A Miami gallery owner and his associate have been indicted in a federal wire fraud conspiracy for allegedly selling counterfeit Andy Warhol artwork using forged documents and phony authentications, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Leslie Roberts, 62, owner of the Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, is accused of falsely claiming that several pieces he sold were original Warhols, complete with fake invoices and documentation claiming they came from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
His associate, Carlos Miguel Rodriguez Melendez, 37, of Sunny Isles, allegedly impersonated an employee of a New York auction house to help authenticate the forgeries and mislead buyers.
Court documents reveal Roberts used forged invoices to convince victims of the art’s legitimacy, and laundered proceeds from the fraudulent sales—moving large sums including $150,000, $40,000, and $50,000—from his gallery’s business account into personal accounts.
Roberts and Rodriguez Melendez were both arrested on April 9 and released on bond. They are expected to appear for arraignment on April 21.
If convicted, both men face up to 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud conspiracy. Roberts may face an additional 10 years for money laundering charges.
