Manhattan art forgers plead guilty

The owner and manager of a Manhattan art gallery have pleaded guilty in a multimillion-dollar forgery scam, uncovered when two auction houses tried to sell the same work by Paul Gauguin.

Ely Sakhai and Houshi Sandjaby have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, while Sakhai also acknowledged a count of wire fraud.

Under a plea deal, Sakhai agreed to pay US$12.5 million ($17.82 million) and forfeit 11 paintings involved in the scam that spanned 15 years.

According to the indictment, Sakhai would buy authentic paintings at auction and, with Sandjaby's help, would acquire forgeries before selling them to private buyers.

The scam came unstuck when the original Vase de Fleurs was put up for auction with Sotheby's at the same time a forgery was offered at a Christie's auction.