The dealer, Leslie Roberts of Miami Fine Art Gallery, was accused of using fake invoices and forged authentication documents to make the works appear legitimate.
A Miami art dealer was indicted on charges that he sold fraudulent Andy Warhols to collectors and provided them with fake invoices and forged authentication documents to make them appear legitimate.
The indictment accuses the dealer, Leslie Roberts of Miami Fine Art Gallery, of going to elaborate lengths to convince buyers that the works were legitimate Warhols, including by using fake stamps and fraudulent identification numbers.
“To make the fraudulent art appear to be authentic pieces created by Andy Warhol, Leslie Howard Roberts utilized forged authentication documents that were purportedly provided by the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, Inc.,” the indictment read. (The board ceased operations over a decade ago.)
Two other defendants were also charged with taking part in Mr. Roberts’s scheme by posing as employees of a New York auction house “to fraudulently authenticate artwork in order to conceal that the artwork was not created by Andy Warhol.”
Mr. Roberts, who was arrested on wire fraud and money laundering charges on Wednesday and released on bond, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The details of the indictment, which was filed in Federal District Court in Miami and unsealed on Thursday, align with a lawsuit filed last year against Mr. Roberts. The civil suit was filed by a family of art collectors who accused Mr. Roberts of duping them into paying millions of dollars for fraudulent Warhols, including the artist’s famous colorful portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Marilyn Monroe.
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