Florida Art Scammer sentenced to more than 2 years in federal prison

A Florida art dealer who promised bargains on works he claimed were originals by master artists, including Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring and Henri Matisse, has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for carrying out a counterfeiting scheme, federal officials said.

The man, Daniel Elie Bouaziz, 69, owned several art galleries in Palm Beach County, Florida, through which he carried out the forgery scheme. He was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court in Miami to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine, court documents show.

Mr Bouaziz pleaded guilty to one charge of money laundering in February, provided federal prosecutors dropped 16 other charges, according to the documents.

Neither Mr. Bouaziz nor his lawyer was immediately available for comment on Tuesday evening.

According to prosecutors, Mr. Bouaziz, a French and Israeli citizen born in Algeria, was in the United States on a B-2 visitor visa. They said the pieces he presented as authentic works were cheap reproductions he bought through online auctions. He was charged in June following an investigation that included serving search warrants at his galleries, a review of financial records and undercover purchases of what prosecutors had deemed fraudulent art.

According to the federal complaint, Mr. Bouaziz conducted his art business through three companies: Galerie Danieli, Danieli Fine Art and VIP Rentals LLC. website Danieli Fine Art advertises a collection from a wide range of notable artists, from Monet and Rodin to Jean-Michel Basquiat and Willem de Kooning.

But counterfeit Andy Warhols sent Mr. Bouaziz to jail.

On October 25, 2021, Mr. Bouaziz sold what he claimed were “authentic, original Warhol pieces”, some of them “signed by the artist”, to an unwitting customer. said federal prosecutors. The client gave Mr. Bouaziz a $200,000 deposit, which he then transferred to other accounts. According to court documents, Mr. Bouaziz then took five pieces of art to the buyer’s home.

Federal prosecutors did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday evening, but in a sentencing memorandum, they noted that Mr Bouaziz “knew that some of the pieces he was selling were not real”. In one case, they added, he sold fraudulent art to an undercover agent for $25,000.

Mr. Bouaziz, they added, had won over many in Palm Beach with his philanthropy, luxury cars, and invitations to luncheon and art events. But his generosity, prosecutors said, belies a darker reality. “Bouaziz painted a picture of himself that he wanted others to see and believe,” they said.

A hearing on restitution is scheduled for August 16.