Art Dealer Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Fraud

NEW YORK — Ezra Chowaiki was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Manhattan to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for defrauding art dealers and collectors of millions of dollars. He was also ordered to give up his interest in more than 20 works of art involved in the fraud, including pieces by Picasso and Alexander Calder.

He will also have to pay as restitution an amount that will be determined in 90 days.

As the owner of a now-closed Manhattan art gallery, Chowaiki & Co., Chowaiki made a series of fraudulent deals to buy and sell artwork from 2015 to 2017. During this period, he transferred more than $16 million of artwork under false pretenses.

“He sold clients’ artwork without authorization, and he took clients’ money for the purchase of artwork he never purchased,” Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement released after the sentence was passed. Judge Jed S. Rakoff presided.

Chowaiki’s six victims include art collectors in New York, Toronto and Pennsylvania, as well as a company managed by an art dealer who does business in Tokyo.

In May, Chowaiki pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud after having been charged Dec. 15, 2017, with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods.

Chowaiki expressed contrition during his sentencing in court and cited desperation as the reason for his actions, Bloomberg reported.

Chowaiki founded the Park Avenue gallery in 2004 but lost control of it in November 2017 when the business filed for bankruptcy.