Palm Beach art dealer indicted on fraud charges

A Palm Beach art dealer was indicted Wednesday on charges related to a fraud scheme that sold fake artwork attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Banksy and Roy Lichtenstein, according to federal officials.

The indictment against Daniel Elie Bouaziz was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Florida.

The indictment says in addition to selling paintings and other artwork that Bouaziz marketed as original or authentic pieces by prominent artists, he purchased some of the pieces at low prices from online auctions and sold them as originals at drastically reduced prices at his galleries on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach.

[ RELATED: Feds say expensive artwork was likely fake ]

To make the art seem authentic Bouaziz made false representations to prospective buyers about the provenance and originality of the art, the indictment says.

The indictment says Bouaziz provided prospective buyers with invoices and documents that had false provenance information, omitted descriptors that were included with the low-cost online purchases that “after” and “reproduction” language, sold prospective buyers pieces with false editions numbers and artists signatures, and provided prospective buyers with certificates of authenticity that included false assertions and appraisals with a stamped block that read, “Daniel Bouaziz, Certified International Fine Art Appraiser.”

The indictment also says Bouaziz committed money laundering because the transactions involved criminally derived property.

If you think you’ve been a victim of art fraud, you’re asked to contact the FBI’s Art Crime Team at 1-800-CALL-FBI.