Aboriginal art fraudsters jailed

Aboriginal art fraudsters jailed
Friday Nov 9 15:12 AEDT

A Melbourne couple who forged paintings they claimed were by a renowned Aboriginal artist and sold them for more than $300,000 will spend nine months behind bars.
Pamela Liberto, 65, and her husband Ivan Liberto, 67, of Toorak, were found guilty of selling four fake paintings, and attempting to sell two more, supposedly by Australian indigenous artist Rover Thomas.

Victorian County Court Judge Roland Williams sentenced the pair to three years' jail, suspended for two years and three months.

The Libertos sold the paintings to several auction houses, including Christie's and Sotheby's, between May 2002 and March 2006, the most lucrative netting $114,000.
They were found guilty by a jury of four counts of obtaining property by deception and two of attempting to obtain property by deception.

Judge Roland Williams said the offence was "almost the stuff of crime stories and the silver screen".

"(It was) a deeply premeditated and highly planned operation over a considerable time, at least the last four or five years, maybe longer," he said.

Judge Williams said the Libertos tried to enrich themselves, harming innocent people and the integrity of the Aboriginal art industry along the way.

"You did all this for lifestyle. You quietly aspire, it seems, to the good things in life," he said.
"There's nothing wrong with this when it comes from honest means, but you chose to that course when you were unable to afford it.

"It is indeed remarkable and a matter of no doubt embarrassment ... that you fared as well as you did."

Judge Williams said the pair had taken a gamble by offending, then failing to take blame, which may have spared them jail time.