Warhol Collectors Get Bitten By The Dane!

An FBI search of a Pennsylvania gallery comes amid allegations of a multimillion-dollar forgery scheme stretching from Philadelphia to Miami and Peru! The FBI has searched Dane Fine Art in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, for the second time this summer. The bureau has disclosed little, describing the operation only as “court-authorized law enforcement activity.” No charges have been filed against gallery owner Nathan “Nicky” Isen in connection with the searches. The raids come amid a civil lawsuit filed by Florida collectors Richard and Judy Perlman, who allege they lost more than $6.7 million buying works represented as authentic Andy Warhols. The lawsuit names Isen and Dane Fine Art among several defendants and describes an alleged forgery pipeline stretching from Pennsylvania through Florida and into Peru. Isen categorically denies any wrongdoing. According to the lawsuit, the Perlmans bought the works through Miami dealer Leslie Roberts, who allegedly supplied the paintings along with fraudulent authentication paperwork. Some purported Warhol prints were allegedly even pages torn from art books, transformed into valuable collectibles with a signature and a little imagination. The alleged operation appears to have benefited from a respectable-looking chain of galleries and dealers that kept the collectors several steps away from the alleged source of the fakes. Roberts has pleaded guilty to art-related wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing. Isen's history has also attracted attention. He pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2015 and subsequently closed his former business, I. Brewster & Co., before operating as Dane Fine Art. The gallery now advertises works by Warhol, Picasso, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, Basquiat, and others. Dane Fine Art's website describes the company as a major wholesale fine-art and print dealer and says its works come with certificates of authenticity and guarantees of genuineness. For now, however, the crucial word remains alleged. The lawsuit's claims have not been proven in court, and the FBI has not publicly confirmed that its searches are connected to the Perlmans' allegations. Still, two FBI searches, $6.7 million in alleged losses, fake Warhols, bogus paperwork, and an international supply chain make this one worth watching. Because apparently, in the art business, sometimes the certificate of authenticity needs its own certificate of authenticity.