Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday a Los Angeles man pleaded guilty to art fraud he falsely attributed to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The paintings were originally on display at the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida, but last year they were confiscated by federal agents in a scandal that rocked the museum and led to the resignation of its director.

Michael Barzman admitted that he and another person, identified only as “JF” in court documents, created the fake paintings and agreed to share the proceeds from the sale. “Mr Barzman was drowning in medical debt after battling cancer for decades,” his lawyer said Tuesday. “In desperation, he joined this scheme because he was afraid of losing his security. Since then, he has cooperated and done everything that was required of him to compensate for his shortsightedness.”

Barzman confessed to the FBI after repeated denials to federal agents that the paintings were not found in Tad Mumford’s locker.

The 2022 Florida Awards has ended, but we still have a lot of other great work for you to see! Come check out Jimm Roberts: The Southernmost Artistic and Literary Portraits. 📷 Learn more: https://t.co/PVK0p2xMXF

Thanks to Dr. Phillips Charities for organizing this exhibition. pic.twitter.com/18aJKQewFz

— Orlando°Art Museum (@omaorlando) August 15, 2022

Orlando Museum Director’s Story

Basquiat sold the cardboard works directly to TV writer Mumford, who died in 2018, and quickly took the money ($5,000) in cash, according to Orlando Museum director and general manager at the time Aaron de Groft. But Mumford did not pay the rent for the locker, and so the paintings were sold to several collectors. These works were then loaned to the Orlando Museum.

These works are said to have been created when the artist used a basement studio that art dealer Larry Gagosian gave him under his Venice, California home. At the time, Basquiat was preparing his new work for an exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles.

They didn’t know anything

However, Gagosian claims he was unaware of the existence of these works. Mumford’s family, for their part, claimed that they had no idea about these purchases and that Mumford was not one to appreciate work and was daunted by the idea of ​​buying works.

One of the artworks was painted on the back of a shipping box with a prominent corporate logo: “FedEx”. Some claim that this font was not used by Federal Express until 1994.

The expressionist works of Bastiat, who was homeless before being “discovered” by Andy Warhol, have become very popular in the world of collectors. In 2017, one of his paintings was sold at Sotheby’s for $110.5 million.

According to the Associated Press