Lawsuit Alleges Warhol Forgery Scheme Spanning Florida, Peru, and Philadelphia
Real estate investor Richard Perlman and his family filed a lawsuit on September 9 in a Miami state court alleging they were sold more than $6.7 million in forged Andy Warhol paintings and prints through a network spanning Florida, Philadelphia, and Peru. The complaint alleges works were painted in Peru, smuggled into the US, and given fabricated provenance documents and labels before being sold in Miami; the alleged fraud surfaced in 2023 when Christie’s experts raised authenticity concerns about portraits of figures including Liza Minnelli, Debbie Harry, and Queen Elizabeth II. Dealer Leslie Roberts, who sold works from a Coconut Grove storefront, was previously sued by Perlman in 2024; that case was resolved in January under undisclosed terms, and Roberts has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is scheduled for sentencing on September 24. The new suit also names Philadelphia dealer Nathan Isen—whose gallery Dane Fine Art was raided by the FBI in July—while Isen has denied involvement; it further alleges Peruvian shippers declared values as low as $30 for purported Warhol originals.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Hidden Hoards, Public Fury, and Forgery Wars