New York Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in Art Swindle

Elizabeth A. Harris The New York Times 07/11/2011 19:28

A New York City man pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of wire fraud in a case in which the authorities said he persuaded an investor to buy a painting by the 19th-century French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, inflated the price and then pocketed some of the money.

The man, Thomas A. Doyle, 53, persuaded the investor, Gary Fitzgerald, to invest in the painting, saying that together they could buy it for $1.1 million, according to the United State’s attorney’s office in Manhattan. According to a complaint, Mr. Fitzgerald sent Mr. Doyle $880,000 for an 80 percent ownership stake; Mr. Doyle was to furnish the remaining $220,000.

But Mr. Doyle had actually negotiated to buy the painting, “Portrait of a Girl,” for $775,000, court records show.

Mr. Doyle deposited the investor’s money in his own bank account and told him that another investor had been found who would pay $1.7 million to buy the painting. No such investor existed, the complaint said, and an experienced art appraiser had said that the painting was likely to sell at auction for $500,000 to $700,000.

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