Father and daughter plead guilty in $2m counterfeit art scheme

The Art Newspaper reported that Erwin Bankowski and Karolina Bankowska entered their guilty pleas on 28 April 2026 at a federal court in Brooklyn, facing recommended sentencing guidelines of 33 to 41 months respectively. The five-year scheme involved commissioning a Polish artist to produce counterfeits of works by some of the most famous Modern and contemporary artists, then selling them through galleries and auction houses.