In an international enforcement operation, four Americans, two Italians and a Spaniard were recently indicted for allegedly producing and selling counterfeit limited-edition prints by Picasso, Dali, Chagall and other masters.

Con artists fake master artists – and pay the price!

As a result of a joint US/Spanish investigation of the production and sale of counterfeit limited- edition fine art prints of renowned artists, seven individuals – including three Europeans and residents of Florida, New York and Illinois – have been indicted on federal criminal charges.

According to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the investigation uncovered two separate but overlapping schemes in which thousands of counterfeit prints – purportedly by Picasso, Chagall, Miro, Warhol, Lichtenstein and others – were sold around the world for more than $5 million (€3.2 million) in profit. The suspects allegedly manufactured the prints in Spain and Italy, counterfeited the artists’ signatures and produced false certificates of authenticity. They then sold the fake prints to an art dealer in north suburban Northbrook, who allegedly sold the inauthentic prints to victims, primarily through the online auction site, eBay.

The huge volume of counterfeits involved included 2,500 fake Alexander Calder prints and 600 counterfeit Chagall prints. Such prints, if authentic, can be extremely valuable: they are prepared from an impression created by the artist or under his/her supervision, and are approved and signed by the artist. The master impression is then destroyed to make sure the edition is limited.

Two separate indictments allege that the defendants sold thousands of counterfeit prints at prices well in excess of their value, resorting sometimes to “shill bidding” on the Web to drive up the prices. The schemes were said to have gone on for the last eight years. The Northbrook dealer, Fineartmasters and Zfineartmasters principal, Michael Zabrin – together with the three European alleged counterfeit artwork distributors and a Florida art dealer – was charged in one indictment. A second Northbrook man, KFA of Illinois, Inc. principal, James Kennedy – together with an alleged New York-based distributor of counterfeit artwork – was charged in the second indictment. The suspects are charged with as many as 10 counts of fraud, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.

Charged in a 10-count indictment (the "European indictment") were:

• Oswaldo Aulestia-Bach of Barcelona, Spain
• Elio Bonfiglioli of Monsummano, Italy
• Patrizia Soliani of Milan, Italy, and Miami Beach, Florida

All three allegedly distributed counterfeit artwork.

• Jerome Bengis of Coral Springs, Florida, principal in Bengis Fine Art gallery
• Michael Zabrin of Northbrook

The indictment also seeks forfeiture of $4 million in addition to more than $125,000 that was seized from Aulestia-Bach’s and Bonfiglioli’s bank accounts in San Francisco.

The second nine-count indictment charged:

• James Kennedy of Northbrook, with five counts of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice for allegedly threatening an informant with injury on January 8, 2008
• Leon Amiel, Jr., also known as "Leon Glass," of New York City, principal in Glass Inter Corp., who was charged with six counts of fraud

The Kennedy-Amiel indictment seeks forfeiture of $1 million.

The charges were announced by US Attorney Fitzgerald, together with Thomas P. Brady, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago, Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Comissari Antoni Permanyer, investigation commander-in-chief of Mossos d'Esquadra (the Catalan police) of Spain.

Fitzgerald commented, "Buyers of limited edition fine art prints, like all other buyers, are entitled to get what they pay for. These indictments are significant because they extend across international borders from one end of the supply chain to the other. While we urge customers to exercise caution and skepticism of deals that appear too good to be true, we are determined to preserve the integrity of an open market."