A little over a year ago, New York City art dealer Robert Rogal got a visit at his private showroom from a young woman who said she wanted to sell a family heirloom. Introducing herself as Karolina Bankowska, she brought a framed painting signed Andrew Wyeth that resembled the watercolor landscapes the celebrated artist produced early in his career. Intrigued, Rogal accepted the piece on consignment, estimating it might bring $20,000 to $30,000 at auction.
“The provenance was a little fuzzy,” he said. “But she seemed credible. It wasn’t an obvious counterfeit.”
Rogal now believes the painting was a fake — one of at least 200 carefully made imitations federal prosecutors say Bankowska, 26, and her father, Erwin Bankowski, 50, tried to pass off to unsuspecting buyers. On Tuesday, the pair pleaded guilty to defrauding victims — including several of New York City’s top fine-art auction houses — of at least $2 million.
Prosecutors say the counterfeits were forged in Poland by an unnamed co-conspirator and often reproduced lesser-known works by prolific artists such as Banksy and Andy Warhol. Their most lucrative fake, attributed to artist Richard Mayhew, sold at auction house DuMouchelles last October for $160,000. A DuMouchelles representative said the house cooperated with authorities but could not discuss the sale further. Other targeted auction houses, including Bonhams, Phillips, Freeman’s and Antique Arena, either declined comment or did not respond.
The father and daughter, Polish citizens living in New Jersey, face charges of wire fraud conspiracy and misrepresenting Native American–produced goods — a count tied to their passing off work attributed to Luiseño artist Fritz Scholder. Under federal guidelines they face the possibility of more than three years in prison, roughly $1.9 million in restitution and potential deportation.
In court, Bankowska said through a statement that her “conduct was wrong and I am guilty.” Her attorney, Todd Spodek, said she had placed more than $1 million into an escrow account. Erwin Bankowski, through a Polish interpreter, also apologized; his attorney Jeffrey Chabrowe said his client had “regrettably made a terrible decision in an effort to support his family.”
Experts called the scheme a familiar one in the art-fraud world. “The only unusual thing about this case is that the forgers got caught,” said Erin Thompson, a City University of New York professor who studies art crime. “People think of the art world as a genteel place full of cultured people who just want to share the wonder of beautiful art. You should assume there are a lot more fakes out there.”
Prosecutors say the Bankowskis began commissioning a Polish artist in 2020 to create the fake works. They used antique paper and forged gallery stamps, sometimes adopting the names of defunct galleries where an artist might plausibly have shown work. Irregularities surfaced quickly. In March 2023, representatives for Raimonds Staprans identified a forged “Triple Boats” offered by an auction house; despite the alert, the painting sold to a buyer for $60,000 a few days later.
Thompson pointed to specific inconsistencies on the suspected Wyeth: the gallery stamp on the back listed a year of 1976 but included a zoning address number phased out in 1962. The fake stamp also bore the name and address of M. Knoedler & Co., a once-prestigious New York gallery that closed in 2011 amid its own forgery scandal.
Rogal said he ultimately never listed the Wyeth, partly because the backstamp looked “too clean.” When he called Bankowska to retrieve it, she did not respond. On Tuesday at a Queens warehouse filled with consigned pieces, Rogal examined the painting again under light.
“You try to do a service and provide it correctly,” he said. “Can we be fooled? Absolutely.”