Art Dealer Scam

AN ART dealer who ran a 15-year forgery scam was finally exposed when the same "original" painting by Paul Gauguin appeared for sale simultaneously at two auction houses.
FBI agents launched an investigation after the work went up for auction at Sothebys in Manhattan at the same time as the nearby Christies.
Ely Sakhai, 52, now faces up to five years in jail and has been forced to pay back the 6.5 million pounds he made from his counterfeiting business. He bought original works by masters including Chagall, Klee, Modigliani, Monet, Cezanne and Renoir for several hundred thousand dollars a piece, had them copied by counterfeiters and then marketed the fakes to unwitting collectors from his Broadway gallery.
He was generous with his money and was noted for his flamboyant dress sense - primarily purple suits, cowboy boots and flashy jewellery.
But much of his fortune was based on deceit. According to prosecutors, The forgeries were always accompanied by the original certificate of authenticity, which made it easier for him to pass them off to unwitting collectors as genuine.
Irish Art