A Los Angeles Man Who Forged Documents to ‘Authenticate’ Fake Works by Warhol and Basquiat Has Pleaded Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges

A Los Angeles man named Philip Bennet Righter has pleaded guilty
to federal charges of art fraud after trying to sell some $6
million worth of forged paintings purportedly by major 20th-century
American artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith
Haring, and Roy Lichtenstein.

Based on his guilty
plea, Righter faces up to 25 years in federal prison.

“Hopefully this will send a message from the FBI’s Art Crime
Team and the United States Attorney’s Office that these types of
cases will be fully prosecuted,” Los Angeles prosecutor Erik Silber
told Court House News.

Righter faces similar charges in the southern district of
Florida. Last July, he was arrested on charges of theft and allegedly
attempting to defraud a Miami gallery out of $1 million. The
first hearing in that case is scheduled to take place today.

The US Attorney’s Office of the Central District of
California contends that Righter
cost his victims more than $758,000, and that his fraudulent tax
returns have cost the government more than $100,000.

According to an indictment filed in Florida, Righter bought fake
works online through sites like eBay and then forged
certificates of authenticity for each piece.

To add an air of legitimacy to the ersatz documents,
he bought custom stamps featuring the insignias of artists’
estates, and cited Basquiat’s former dealer, Annina Nosei Gallery,
in provenance documents.

Among the fakes he sold was a $50,000 canvas said to be a 1983
Basquiat. The online art sales website that brokered the 2016 sale
issued a refund when the work was found to be worthless two years
later.

Righter also used the fake works as collateral. When he
defaulted a $24,000 loan, his victim tried to sell a purported
Basquiat at auction, only to learn it was a forgery.

In his 2015 tax filing, Righter claimed to have donated art to
charity, and that thieves had stolen $2.5 million in art from his
home. As a result, he received over $100,000 in returns.

The Los Angeles police were investigating Righter as early as
2016, when they questioned him about a forged Ketih Haring offered
to a Miami gallery. Nevertheless, Righter appears to have continued
marketing fakes, using a number of assumed names, for at least the
next two years.

Righter’s Instagram account says he is an Emmy,
Grammy, and Academy award winner, but IMDB lists his only credit as a producer
for a 2016 short film called The Good Waiter.

The post A Los Angeles Man Who Forged Documents to
‘Authenticate’ Fake Works by Warhol and Basquiat Has Pleaded Guilty
to Federal Fraud Charges appeared first on artnet
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