Supplier of Art to the Knoedler Arrested for Tax Avoidence

Glafira Rosales, the Long Island art dealer who supplied many of the questionable pieces to the Knoedler has been arrest for tax evasion and failure to disclose $12.5 million in income from the sales.

The NY Times reports

Prosecutors charged that the dealer, Glafira Rosales, 56, of Sands Point, N.Y., failed to disclose $12.5 million that she had earned from the sale of the works and had never reported, as required, that she had Spanish bank accounts where she had hidden much of the proceeds.

“As alleged, Glafira Rosales gave new meaning to the phrase ‘artful dodger’ by avoiding taxes on millions of dollars in income from dealing in fake artworks for fake clients,” Manhattan United States Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement announcing Ms. Rosales’s arrest.

The case drew attention in the art world because it illustrated the vulnerability of a market where value is based on authenticity but can be difficult for experts to determine with complete precision. Dealers who sold the works, often for millions of dollars, said they believed in their authenticity even after many of their clients began to challenge those assertions.

But according to the government’s case, an apparently talented forger — or forgers — confounded the art world for years by turning out realistic-looking works said to be by masters including Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. Authorities declined to comment on whether they have identified a forger, but a person briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, said the investigation is continuing and that any leads on the forgeries will be pursued.

Ms. Rosales’s lawyer, Steven R. Kartagener, said, “Glafira Rosales fully intends to defend herself against these charges and she is confident that when all the facts become known she will be vindicated.”

Source: The NY Times