The long-reclusive owner of a neglected home in Westlake Village will serve federal prison time after being convicted in a counterfeit Native American art scheme that stretched over years.
Robert D. Haack, 59, was sentenced in federal court in New Mexico to 37 months in prison and ordered to pay $134,400 in restitution. Prosecutors said he forged and sold jewelry to profit from the reputation of famed Hopi artist Charles Loloma, often called the father of contemporary Indian jewelry.
Court records show Haack produced dozens of fake Loloma pieces between 2008 and 2015 at his California residence. He sold the counterfeit jewelry on eBay and through direct transactions, defrauding more than 10 buyers nationwide out of nearly $500,000.
When authorities searched his home, they found jewelry-making equipment, unfinished Loloma-style pieces and practice signatures etched into metal scraps.
The investigation began in 2018 after undercover agents with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service purchased counterfeit jewelry from Haack. A federal grand jury indicted him in 2019 on multiple fraud charges.
Haack initially pleaded guilty in 2021 under a deal that would have resulted in home confinement. However, after he failed to provide required financial disclosures to the U.S. Probation Office, the court rejected the agreement and he withdrew his pleas.
As the case moved toward trial, Haack claimed a cognitive medical condition, prompting a competency evaluation and delaying proceedings. After a 30-day inpatient assessment, the court determined he had fabricated the illness and was fit to stand trial.
In June 2024, following a four-day trial in Santa Fe, a federal jury convicted Haack on two counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, which bans the sale of art falsely marketed as “Indian made.”
Meridith Stanton, director of the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Board, praised prosecutors and investigators for securing the conviction, saying counterfeit sales harm authentic Native artists who depend on their craft for income and cultural preservation.
Under federal law, Haack will serve his sentence without parole.
Beyond the criminal case, Haack has faced local scrutiny over his vacant property on Watergate Court in Westlake Village’s First Neighborhood. The 1,800-square-foot ranch-style home has remained in disrepair for years, drawing complaints from neighbors and prompting an active code enforcement case.
Public records also show Haack once co-owned Halaco Engineering Co., a South Oxnard metal recycling facility that closed in 2004 and was later designated a federal Superfund cleanup site due to contamination.
