{"id":397,"date":"2013-09-16T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fbiexpert.com\/blog\/?p=397"},"modified":"2013-09-25T17:48:42","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T17:48:42","slug":"art-dealer-admits-80m-fraud-in-fbi-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fbiexpert.com\/blog\/art-dealer-admits-80m-fraud-in-fbi-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Dealer Admits $80M Fraud in FBI Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York, NY<\/strong><\/p>\n

GLAFIRA ROSALES, age 57, residence Sands Point, New York\u00a0pled guilty<\/em> today in Manhattan federal court to participating in scheme to sell more than 60 fake pieces of modern art to unsuspecting\u00a0collectors and two New York art galleries stealing\u00a0more than $80 million said the FBI.\u00a0 Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge KATHERINE P. FAILLA, she\u00a0pled guilty<\/em> to conspiracy to sell the fake\u00a0art, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and tax violations and admitted to using\u00a0foreign bank\u00a0accounts\u00a0in an effort to conceal\u00a0money from the IRS.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 1994 and continuing through 2009, the FBI said ROSALES sold more than 60 never before-exhibited and previously unknown\u00a0paintings by 20th century artists JACKSON POLLOCK, MARK ROTHKO and ROBERT MOTHERWELL.\u00a0 Investigators said the art was\u00a0initially sold to two prominent\u00a0Manhattan galleries\u00a0for approximately $33.2 million and then resold for\u00a0more than $80 million.\u00a0 The phony paintings were created by a local Queens’ artist trained in a New York school who met ROSALES selling street art sometime in the 1980s.\u00a0 First conceiving the scheme with another companion, ROSALES later gained the cooperation of the painter who in some instances also fraudulently affixed\u00a0the artist’s name on a work, e.g. JACKSON POLLOCK, but on other occasions authorities said ROSALES’ companion applied\u00a0a false signature.\u00a0 And in an effort to create an air of authenticity\u00a0also applied\u00a0aging treatments to the paintings giving them a false patina.<\/p>\n

Selling the paintings, ROSALES made up several stories claiming the works were owned by clients or collectors in Switzerland and Spain and said she was being paid a commission\u00a0to handle the sales when, in fact, the client\u00a0or collector either didn’t exist or own any of the works–keeping the ill-gotten gains which she deposited in\u00a0several overseas bank accounts\u00a0wanting to conceal the money from the IRS.\u00a0 Because\u00a0documents\u00a0did not indicate the identities of ROSALES’ companion or the painter, court experts reasoned the FBI probably used a confidential human source<\/em>\u00a0sometimes called a cooperating witness<\/em> and\/or a confidential informant<\/em> to develop\u00a0the case and prosecute ROSALES so nobody was listed or named.<\/p>\n

Admitting to the scheme, investigators said ROSALES pled guilty to nine felonies, including one count conspiracy to commit wire fraud<\/em>, one count wire fraud<\/em>, one count conspiracy to commit money laundering<\/em>, one count money laundering<\/em>, three counts filing false income tax return<\/em>, and two counts failure to file report of foreign bank account<\/em> and agreed to forfeiture<\/em> totaling $32.2 million, including her home and pay restitution not to exceed $81 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York, NY GLAFIRA ROSALES, age 57, residence Sands Point, New York\u00a0pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to participating [Read More »]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[60,61,68,70,71,69,75,74,33,76,62,56,63,57,58,73,65,59,64,67,72],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n