Art dealer who sold forged Warhols sentenced to nearly four years in prison
A Miami art dealer who admitted to selling forged Andy Warhol artwork has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison. Leslie Roberts, 62, created
A Miami art dealer who admitted to selling forged Andy Warhol artwork has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison. Leslie Roberts, 62, created fraudulent invoices and authentication documents, as well as counterfeit stamps to deceive buyers, the US justice department said in a statement issued on Thursday. The US district judge Roy Altman sentenced Roberts to three years and 10 months in federal prison on 2 October. The Associated Press reported that Altman also ordered Roberts to repay $2.6m stolen through his scheme centering on artwork falsely attributed to the leader of the pop art movement.
Roberts sold the fakes in question through his Miami art gallery, claiming he acquired the artwork from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, according to the justice department. He provided fraudulent invoices that appeared to have been issued by the organization before pleading guilty in June to conspiring to commit wire fraud. He also enlisted Carlos Rodriguez Melendez to pose as an employee of a New York-based auction company and falsely authenticate the work. The accomplice also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A statement from the southern district of Florida’s US attorney, Jason Reding Quiñones, said it was important to prosecute Roberts “because art fraud undermines confidence in the legitimate art market and victimizes buyers who rely on the authenticity of the works they purchase”.
Roberts “exploited the trust that collectors place in art dealers and the authenticity of the works they purchase”, Reding Quiñones said. Reding Quiñones said Roberts’ prison sentence “sends a clear message: fraud is fraud, whether it happens on Wall Street or in an art gallery. Those who profit through deception will be held accountable.” Others have also been convicted in recent months of selling fake Warhol work. In April, a father and daughter in New Jersey, Erwin Bankowski and Karolina Bankowska, admitted to commissioning an artist in Poland to create at least 200 Warhol, Banksy and Pablo Picasso fakes and ultimately defrauding buyers of at least $2m.
The pair pleaded guilty to running a years-long counterfeiting scheme in which they tricked galleries and auction houses into buying the forgeries. When sentenced, they could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment as well as at least $1.9m in restitution, the US justice department said in a statement.
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