Father-daughter duo trick NYC art world with fake Warhols, Banksys
AP News • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Karolina Bankowska and her father Erwin Bankowski pleaded guilty to defrauding buyers, including major New York auction houses, by selling at least 200 forged artworks worth over $2 million.
- The counterfeit paintings, created by a Polish forger, imitated lesser-known works by famous artists such as Andrew Wyeth, Banksy, Andy Warhol, and Richard Mayhew, with one fake selling for $160,000.
- The duo faces federal charges including wire fraud conspiracy and misrepresenting Native American art, with potential penalties exceeding three years in prison, $1.9 million in restitution, and deportation.
- The forgeries were sophisticated, involving forged gallery stamps and the use of antique paper, but inconsistencies like outdated zoning numbers helped raise suspicion among experts and auction houses.
- Art crime experts noted that art forgery is widespread in the industry, and this case stands out mainly because the perpetrators were caught and prosecuted.
