Sands Point art dealer accused of selling counterfeit paintings

A Sands Point art dealer faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering in what federal authorities say was a $30 million scheme to sell counterfeit paintings she claimed were by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning.

Glafira Rosales, 56, faces 59 years in prison on seven charges, if convicted, and is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in federal court in Manhattan.

According to the indictment, Rosales sold more than 60 supposedly previously unknown works by some of the giants of 20th century art to prominent Manhattan galleries between 1994 and 2009 through King's Fine Arts and Glafira Rosales Fine Arts, companies she and her then-boyfriend ran.

For some of the sales, she claimed to represent a Swiss heir who wanted to remain anonymous; for others, it was a Spanish collector, prosecutors said.

Proceeds from the sale of the counterfeit paintings were transferred to foreign bank accounts and later, authorities said, to Rosales' pocket. She was also charged with filing false tax returns on at least $12.5 million of unreported income from 2006 to 2008.

"The indictment depicts a complete circle of fraud perpetrated by Glafira Rosales -- fake paintings sold on behalf of nonexistent clients with money deposited into a hidden bank account," Southern District U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

A lawyer for Rosales, Steven Kartagener, could not be reached Wednesday night but had told Newsday in May that experts would still vouch for the art's authenticity and Rosales would plead not guilty. "She is fully prepared to defend herself," he said.