A Coconut Grove fine art dealer and an accomplice were indicted in federal court, accused of orchestrating a sophisticated conspiracy to sell forged Andy Warhol artworks using falsified invoices and authentications, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced.
Leslie Roberts, 62, of Miami, faces charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering, while Carlos Miguel Rodriguez Melendez, 37, of Sunny Isles, is charged with wire fraud conspiracy for posing as a New York auction house employee to validate the counterfeit pieces.
Fraudulent art sales uncovered
According to federal officials, the indictment alleges that Roberts, operating through his Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, misrepresented the forged works as authentic Warhol originals.
Prosecutors said he deceived buyers by claiming the pieces were sourced directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, bolstering his claims with fraudulent invoices.
Rodriguez Melendez allegedly aided the scheme by providing fake authentications and concealing the artworks’ true nature from victims, the office said.
Money laundering allegations
Beyond the art fraud, Roberts is accused of laundering proceeds from the scheme, transferring funds from his gallery’s bank account to a personal account, per the United States Attorney’s Office.
The indictment details transactions of $150,000, $40,000 and $50,000, which prosecutors said were derived from the illicit sales.
The charges depict a calculated effort to profit from unsuspecting buyers in the high-stakes art market, officials said.
Both defendants were arrested April 9 and appeared in federal court, where they were released on bond, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
An arraignment is set for April 21.
If convicted, Roberts and Melendez could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy, with Roberts facing an additional 10 years for money laundering, subject to a federal judge’s ruling based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.