A Florida art dealer who previously did time for selling fakes was arrested again, this time accused of selling works that he passed off as originals by famed pop artist Andy Warhol — while knowing all along that the pieces were phony, officials said Thursday.
Leslie Howard Roberts, the 62-year-old owner of Miami Fine Art Gallery, and Carlos Miguel Rodriguez Melendez, 37, were both named in an 11-count indictment that includes allegations of wire fraud and money laundering.
Roberts was jailed a decade earlier for pushing fake Peter Max works.
FBI agents raided the Coconut Grove gallery on Wednesday and set up a tent outside the business to catalog seized art.
Roberts told buyers that the Warhol work he was selling came directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, officials said.
But in reality, Roberts had “utilized fraudulent AWF identification numbers inscribed on the back of artworks, as well as fake stamps, to create the appearance of authenticity,” according to the federal indictment.
Melendez and an unnamed alleged co-conspirator lied about being “employees of a New York -based auction company to fraudulently authenticate artwork in order to conceal that the artwork was ont created by Andy Warhol,” the indictment said.
The wire fraud charges stem from six payments totaling $599,850 from “Victim 1” between April 17, 2023 and May 21, 2024 and a $60,000 transfer from “Victim 2” on May 28, 2024, according to the indictment.
Money laundering allegations stems from additional bank transfers, between accounts in the name of the gallery to those controlled by Roberts, in the amounts of $150,000, $50,000 and $40,000 between Dec. 19 and 28 of 2023, the court document said.
Roberts’ attorney could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
“Our client vehemently maintains his innocence and looks forward to the opportunity to present the full facts in a court of law,” Melendez’s defense attorney Nayib Hassan said in a statement on Friday. “We are committed to ensuring that his rights are protected and that the process is fully observed throughout this matter.”
