New York: The painting caught Pei Shen Qian’s eye, but it was the price that affected him deeply.
Qian, browsing in a booth at a Manhattan art show a decade ago, had stumbled across his own work: a forgery of a modern masterpiece that he had recently completed. He had sold it for just a few hundred dollars, to a man prosecutors now say was Qian’s co-conspirator in a long-running, $33 million (Dh121 million) art swindle, whose success stemmed in large measure from Qian’s skill.
The painter’s surprise encounter with his own handiwork, offered for sale at a price “far in excess” of what he had earned, prompted Qian to raise the price he charged for his forgeries, from several hundred to several thousand dollars, according to a federal fraud and money laundering indictment unsealed Monday. But Qian, who produced the counterfeit masterworks in the garage of his home in Queens, still received only a tiny fraction of the money his three co-conspirators netted in the scheme.
The alleged scheme stretched for nearly two decades, involved several New York art galleries and earned the conspirators more than $30 million, according to the indictment.
Last week, authorities closed in on Bergantinos and his brother, arresting them in Spain, federal prosecutors said. The brothers, according to the indictment, face conspiracy and money laundering charges.
The painter, Pei Shen Qian, was also indicted. He’s accused of making false statements to FBI agents and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Investigators believe he fled to China as the alleged scheme started to unravel.
The indictment is the latest chapter in a case that’s rattled the modern art world, involving several galleries and wealthy buyers. Galleries made more than $80 million off of dozens of fake works, the indictment alleges. And Bergantinos and his associates made more than $33 million.
“Today’s charges paint a picture of perpetual lies and greed. As alleged, the defendants tricked victims into paying more than $33 million for worthless paintings which they fabricated in the names of world-famous artists,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement on Monday. “The Bergantinos Diaz brothers then laundered and hid their illegal proceeds overseas. With today’s indictment, the defendants must now answer for their alleged roles as modern masters of forgery and deceit.”
What started with a meeting between Bergantinos and Qian on a New York street corner evolved into an elaborate plot, the indictment alleges.
Qian would paint works in his home in Queens, New York. Then Bergantinos and his associates would peddle them through galleries to unsuspecting buyers who paid millions, the indictment says.
The alleged forged works purported to be paintings by famous artists, including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell and Clyfford Still, the indictment says.
But long before the works of art were sold, according to the indictment, Bergantinos played a role in the forgeries.
To make the paintings more convincing, Bergantinos bought old canvases at flea markets, stained newer canvases with tea bags to make them look older and gave Qian old paint to use.
Then, after the works were completed, according to the indictment, Bergantinos “subjected many fake works to various processes, such as heating them, cooling them, and exposing them to the elements outdoors, in an attempt to make the fake works seem older than they actually were.”
In at least one instance, the indictment says, Bergantinos used a blow dryer to heat up a forged painting.
Authorities have said his girlfriend, Glafira Rosales, was a key player in the alleged conspiracy. After pleading guilty last year to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and filing false federal income tax returns, she’s awaiting sentencing in federal court.
In an interview with Bloomberg in Shanghai last year, Qian admitted imitating modern masters’ works, but said he never intended to pass them off for profit. In court documents, prosecutors allege he received between several hundred and several thousand dollars for paintings the art dealers and galleries sold for millions.
“I made a knife to cut fruit,” he said, according to Bloomberg. “But if others use it to kill, blaming me is unfair.”
If the lawsuits filed against Bergantinos and his associates are any indication, there’s already plenty of finger-pointing over the alleged forgeries.
A number of civil cases against him are still pending, according to federal court records.
It was not immediately clear whether Bergantinos had legal representation or whether Spanish authorities plan to extradite him to the United States.
—Compiled from agencies
