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Defense attorney Nayib Hassan, who represents Rodriguez
Melendez, said his client maintains his innocence and looks
forward to presenting the full facts in a court of law. Roberts’
defense attorney and Miami Fine Art Gallery didn’t immediately
respond to emails seeking comment about the charges.
According to the indictment, Roberts, the owner of Miami Fine
Art Gallery in Coconut Grove, fraudulently represented art as
original pieces created by renowned artist Andy Warhol.
Prosecutors said Roberts falsely claimed to victims that he
acquired the artwork directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts and provided fake and fraudulent invoices to
the victims.
Roberts also transferred at least $240,000 in wire fraud
proceeds from his Miami Fine Art Gallery bank account to a
personal bank account, the indictment said.
Rodriguez Melendez falsely claimed to work for a New York-based
auction company to fraudulently authenticate the artwork,
concealing that the artwork was fake, investigators said.
Roberts is charged with participating in a conspiracy to sell
forged art using fake and fraudulent invoices and
authentications, and Rodriguez Melendez is charged with
participating in the wire fraud conspiracy. They have been
released on bond, with an arraignment hearing scheduled for
April 21.
If convicted, Roberts faces up to 30 years in prison and
Rodriguez Melendez faces 20.
Another South Florida art dealer was sentenced in 2023 to two
years and three months in federal prison for selling fake
Warhols. Daniel Elie Bouaziz, who owned two galleries in Palm
Beach County, had pleaded guilty to a single count of money
laundering, while prosecutors agreed to drop 16 other counts
related to fraud and embezzlement.
Warhol was an American visual artist and filmmaker most
associated with the pop art movement of the 1960s.
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