Multi-National Art Dealers Indicted for Alleged Counterfeits

Seven art dealers from the United States and Europe were indicted by federal authorities this week for allegedly selling counterfeit art. The dealers included three Europeans and four Americans, who sold the prints in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Europe. ^[1]

The group reportedly received over $5 million in profits from selling fake works by numerous well-known artists, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol,^[2] Roy Lichtenstein,^[3] and Salvador Dali.[4] Some of the art was sold on EBay, while the rest of the works were sold through dealers in Northbrook, Illinois. The scam reportedly involved the reproduction of actual works as well as the sale of fake items in the artists’ particular styles, according to prosecutors.^[5]

One set of defendants face indictments for allegedly importing forgeries from Europe and selling them through an Illinois art dealer, Michael Zabrin. Zabrin was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to one year in prison for distributing fake art. At the time, Zabrin’s supplier was Leon Amiel, the late father of co-defendant Leon Amiel, Jr.,^[6] who is being charged in this indictment with distributing over 2500 counterfeit prints.^[7] Zabrin was also convicted last year of art fraud, and sentenced to five months in prison.^[8]

According to prosecutors, Amiel, Jr., was also involved in a separate scheme where he reportedly printed fake works and distributed them to James Kennedy, who has been indicted for selling the counterfeit works as limited-edition versions. Kennedy, the only defendant currently in custody, is scheduled to appear in court on March 24.^[9] He also has a prior conviction for selling counterfeit art.^[10]

The defendants have been charged with mail and wire frauds, under 18 USC §1341 and §1343, respectively. Further information on such prosecutions can be found here and here, and discussions about criminal trafficking of counterfeit goods can be found on the McNabb Associates Transnational Crimes Blog and Federal Crimes Blog.

__________________
[1] Andrew Harris, US Indicts Seven for Selling Fake Picassos, Warhols; Bloomberg News, March 19, 2008 (available at www.bloomberg.com).

[2] Id.

[3] Frank Main, Dealer charged for selling fake art, again; Chicago Sun-Times, March 20, 2008 (available at www.sutimes.com).

[4] BBC News, Seven charged in ‘eBay art scam,’ March 20, 2008 (available at www.bbc.co.uk/news).

[5] Harris.

[6] Main.

[7] Harris.

[8] Main.

[9] Harris.

[10] Main.