A father and daughter from Lawrence, New Jersey, pleaded responsible final month to working a five-year scheme to promote greater than 200 counterfeit works they claimed have been by a few of the most well-known Fashionable and modern artists, defrauding consumers of a minimum of $2m. Erwin Bankowski and his daughter, Karolina Bankowska, who’re going through really helpful phrases of 33 to 41 months, respectively, entered their pleas on 28 April at a federal court docket in Brooklyn.
Among the many counterfeit artwork are items supposed to be bought as works by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Banksy, Raimond Staprans, and Native American artists together with Fritz Scholder and Richard Mayhew. Between 2020 and 2025, the counterfeits have been consigned to respected galleries and public sale homes throughout america, the place they bought for costs starting from $2,000 for a faux Banksy protest print to $160,000 for a counterfeit panorama attributed to Mayhew. The defendants claimed items had handed by means of non-public collections related to the unique artists or had been held by galleries and companies that had since closed. In some instances, in addition they affixed cast gallery stamps and certificates of authenticity to aged paper.
“For years, these defendants painted themselves as purveyors of positive artwork whereas promoting lies on canvas to unsuspecting collectors,” Joseph Nocella Jr, a US lawyer for the Japanese District of New York, stated in an announcement. The duo’s “convictions strip away the varnish and reveal the fraud beneath”.
Among the many costs is a not often invoked depend underneath the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, which prohibits falsely advertising items as having been made by Native American artists. The prosecutors are looking for restitution of a minimum of $1.9m. Jeffrey Chabrowe, a lawyer for Erwin Bankowski, advised The New York Instances his shopper accepted accountability and had ”made a horrible resolution to assist his household”. Todd Spodek, a lawyer representing Bankowska, stated she had likewise taken accountability for her crimes.
