Pair apologise in court after being accused of defrauding buyers including some of New York’s most prominent fine art auction houses
A father and daughter in New Jersey have pleaded guilty to running a years-long counterfeiting scheme to trick art galleries and auction houses into buying forged paintings of works by prominent artists such as Andy Warhol, Banksy and Pablo Picasso.
Federal prosecutors said Erwin Bankowski, 50, and Karolina Bankowska, 26, commissioned an artist in Poland to create at least 200 of the fakes and ultimately defrauded buyers of at least $2m.
The counterfeits were often reproductions of lesser-known works by prominent and prolific artists, prosecutors said. The most profitable fake – purportedly by artist Richard Mayhew – was sold by auction house DuMouchelles last October for $160,000.
A representative for DuMouchelles said they had cooperated with federal authorities but were not authorised to discuss the sale further.
