00:00What's a good way for fathers and daughters to bond?
00:02Maybe taking a cooking class together or going on a hike?
00:06Or swindling art lovers out of millions,
00:09passing off forgeries as the real thing?
00:11That seems to be how Erwin Benkowski and Karolina Benkowska
00:15spent their time together.
00:17The New Jersey-based pair, originally from Poland,
00:20allegedly hustled fake works attributed to Andy Warhol,
00:23Pablo Picasso, Banksy, and more to galleries
00:26and collectors around New York.
00:28They ended up pocketing at least $2 million from their scam.
00:32Court documents show the father-daughter duo
00:34commissioned a painter in Poland to create the forgeries.
00:37They used design software to forge certificates of authenticity,
00:41which they printed onto aged paper to make it look more authentic.
00:45Then they sold the works as the real deal.
00:48Erwin and Karolina were not art world novices either.
00:51They regularly sold legitimate, but not collectible pieces too.
00:55They weren't making a ton of money from the legitimate sale,
00:58so they decided, apparently, to up the ante.
01:01When the FBI came calling, the pair admitted to all of it,
01:04pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy,
01:06and misrepresentation of Native American-produced goods and products,
01:11they now face prison, as well as owing close to $2 million in restitution.
01:16Since they pled guilty instead of going to trial,
01:18they'll likely spend only about three years behind bars
01:21before heading back to Poland where they will be deported.
01:24They will be deported.
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