Florida art dealer and another man charged in scheme to sell fake Andy Warhol artworks

MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida art dealer and another man face charges involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol artworks, authorities said.

Leslie Roberts, 62, of Miami, and Carlos Miguel Rodriguez Melendez, 37, of Sunny Isles, were arrested Wednesday and made their initial appearances in Miami federal court, according to court records.

Defense attorney Nayib Hassan, who represents Rodriguez Melendez, said his client maintains his innocence and looks forward to presenting the full facts in a court of law. Roberts’ defense attorney and Miami Fine Art Gallery didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment about the charges.

According to the indictment, Roberts, the owner of Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, fraudulently represented art as original pieces created by renowned artist Andy Warhol. Prosecutors said Roberts falsely claimed to victims that he acquired the artwork directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and provided fake and fraudulent invoices to the victims.

Roberts also transferred at least $240,000 in wire fraud proceeds from his Miami Fine Art Gallery bank account to a personal bank account, the indictment said.

Rodriguez Melendez falsely claimed to work for a New York-based auction company to fraudulently authenticate the artwork, concealing that the artwork was fake, investigators said.

Roberts is charged with participating in a conspiracy to sell forged art using fake and fraudulent invoices and authentications, and Rodriguez Melendez is charged with participating in the wire fraud conspiracy. They have been released on bond, with an arraignment hearing scheduled for April 21.

If convicted, Roberts faces up to 30 years in prison and Rodriguez Melendez faces 20.

Another South Florida art dealer was sentenced in 2023 to two years and three months in federal prison for selling fake Warhols. Daniel Elie Bouaziz, who owned two galleries in Palm Beach County, had pleaded guilty to a single count of money laundering, while prosecutors agreed to drop 16 other counts related to fraud and embezzlement.

Warhol was an American visual artist and filmmaker most associated with the pop art movement of the 1960s.