Father-daughter forgery scheme hits NYC art world with counterfeit Warhols and Banksys
A New Jersey-based father and daughter, Karolina Bankowska and Erwin Bankowski, pleaded guilty to a multi-million-dollar scheme that produced about 200 fake artworks—mostly works attributed to Warhol and Banksy—crafted in Poland with forged provenance stamps and sold through major NYC auction houses for at least $2 million. The case highlights a wider problem of forgeries in the art world, with experts noting that fakery is more prevalent than industry insiders often admit. The pair face prison time, restitution (about $1.9 million), and possible deportation to Poland.
