Yesterday, Daniel Elie Bouaziz, a Palm Beach art dealer, admitted to selling a fake artwork by Andy Warhol, as per court documents. In the spring of 2022, FBI’s Marc A. Gervasi filed a complaint against Bouaziz to Southern Florida District Court, alleging that he sold counterfeit works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Haring, and Banksy to six individuals through his two galleries.
During the investigation, undercover law enforcement officers purchased a counterfeit “Superman” print from Bouaziz for $25,000, who claimed it was rare and of good quality. Bouaziz allegedly added a stamp from the Carnegie Museum of Art on the back of the print to make it look genuine, but it was later discovered that the museum had not authorized the production and distribution of the “Superman” edition prints. FBI agent Gervasi and his team continued to buy works from Bouaziz, who provided authentication proof and claimed to have sourced the artwork from reputable sources, such as a wealthy German individual living in Peru or well-known galleries and auction houses.
During each purchase, Gervasi and his team recorded the artwork and its accompanying provenance documents, only to find that they were all fake. In their final operation, the Art Crime Team agreed to purchase a collection of artworks by renowned artists such as Basquiat, Haring, Banksy, and O’Keeffe for $22 million, and paid Bouaziz a deposit in Bitcoin. One of the works included in the collection was a Basquiat piece that Bouaziz claimed was worth $12 million, but Gervasi discovered that Bouaziz had actually bought it from an auction website for just $495.
“The FBI did not observe a single transaction in those accounts in which Bouaziz or his galleries purchased high-value artwork commensurate with the artwork Bouaziz sold to victims as original pieces,” wrote Gervasi in his complaint. “Bouaziz purchased low-cost reproductions from online auction sites that he then resold to unsuspecting victims, as originals, at drastically increased prices.”
In addition to Bouaziz’s guilty plea for selling fake art Warhol works, his situation is further complicated by the fact that he is currently in the US on a B-2 tourist visa, which prohibits him from operating a business in the country. Yesterday, Bouaziz admitted to one count of money laundering related to a sale of counterfeit Warhol works to an undisclosed victim. Bouaziz received a $200,000 down payment, which he transferred to other accounts. The court dismissed 16 other charges against him. Bouaziz is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30th.