Father-Daughter Duo Defraud New York City’s Art World of Millions of Dollars

A father and his daughter pleaded guilty to scamming NYC’s art world with a million-dollar scheme. Karolina Bankowska, 26, and her father, Erwin Bankowski, 50, defrauded New York City auction houses and buyers for at least $2 million.

The father-daughter team, who are Polish nationals, lived in New Jersey. They ran their fraud scheme between 2020 and 2025, creating and selling over 200 fake artworks. Their counterfeit artworks were falsely attributed to some of the world’s greatest artists, including Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and Banksy.

On April 28, the pair pleaded guilty to defrauding many buyers and auction houses in New York City. According to the court records, Bankowska and Bankowski commissioned an unnamed co-conspirator in Poland to create reproductions of celebrated artists’ lesser-known works.

According to prosecutors, the Polish artist counterfeited the original works by using antique paper. The team also forged stamps to attach to the paintings to give them a more authentic look. They included the names of the old galleries where the paintings were possibly exhibited first.

One of their most profitable counterfeit paintings was attributed to Richard Mayhew. It was sold by auction house DuMouchelles for $160,000 in October 2025. Other auction houses that fell victim to their scheme included Bonhams, Freeman’s, Phillips, and Antique Arena.

A representative for Richard Mayhew said that they are cooperating with federal authorities, but they were not authorized to discuss the sale of the artwork.

The duo was charged with wire fraud conspiracy. They are also facing the charge of misrepresenting Native American-produced goods, which stemmed from their reproduction of the Luiseño artist Fritz Scholder.

They also face possible deportation to Poland, more than three years in prison, and an additional $1.9 million in restitution. On April 28, Banowska told the court that her “conduct was wrong.” She also pleaded guilty.

Todd Spodek, who is representing her, said that she had placed more than $1 million in an escrow account. Erwin Bankowski’s attorney, Jeffrey Chabrowe, said that his client had "regrettably made a terrible decision in an effort to support his family.”

Erin Thompson, a professor of art crime at the City University of New York, said, “The only unusual thing about this case is that the forgers got caught. People think of the art world as a genteel place full of cultured people who just want to share the wonder of beautiful art.”

She added, “You should assume there are a lot more fakes out there.”