Multi-Million Dollar Art Fraud Uncovered in Lawsuit
A prominent Atlanta-based art appraiser and auctioneer stands accused of orchestrating a sophisticated $20 million art fraud, selling hundreds of counterfeit works falsely attributed to legendary artists like Banksy and Salvador Dalí. The shocking allegations were filed in a federal trial court in Atlanta last week by Beaux Arts Museum LLC, representing Floridian multi-millionaire Alvin Malnik.
A Betrayal of Trust and Friendship
The legal documents reveal that the defendant, Allan Baitcher of Peachtree Antiques, exploited a long-standing personal friendship with the plaintiff. The two men have known each other since the 1960s, when Baitcher was a child, and later entered into a professional relationship thirty years on. Malnik would frequently fly to Atlanta to view and purchase art from Baitcher's collection.
According to the lawsuit, "Ultimately, Baitcher betrayed Malnik’s trust and used it against him". The alleged scheme involved selling thousands of pieces of counterfeit art and then creating entirely fictitious appraisal firms to authenticate them. Baitcher is accused of fabricating fake websites, email addresses, and phone numbers for shadowy authenticators who did not actually exist.
The Scale of the Alleged Forgery
The scale of the alleged forgery is immense. The lawsuit claims that more than 800 works of art had their authentication reports falsified. Many of the pieces passed off as creations by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jackson Pollock, Dalí, and the elusive Banksy were allegedly sourced from China. Baitcher reportedly suggested that the Hong Kong Museum of Art had supplied these works.
The collective value of the fake artworks was fraudulently estimated at $200 million, for which Malnik paid a total of $20 million. The plaintiff is now seeking full restitution of the artworks' stated value, in addition to damages and interest.
This case stands in stark contrast to Baitcher's professional claims. His website states he has been selling antiques since 1974, appraised items for the White House, and even earned a Guinness World Record for auctioning the most items in 30 minutes. He also alleges selling the "rarest and most expensive movie poster ever," a Wizard of Oz poster, for $59,000. Baitcher has not yet publicly responded to the allegations.
