Ely Sakhai Arrives

Ely Sakhai, a Jewish art dealer, emigrated from Iran to USA 1965.

Creating An Image

Among other things, he sponsored the Ely Sakhai Torah Center. 6

Ely Becomes A Minor Celebrity

He become a minor art dealer who owned The Art Collection, Inc. and Exclusive Art art galleries in lower Manhattan, New York City.

The Scam Begins

In the 1980s Sakhai begun purchasing $30,000 Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works. He constantly bought worthless old paintings just for the canvas. He had Chinese immigrants working in his gallery copy the works, and sold the forgeries with the genuine certificate of authenticity. Months or years later he would obtain a certificate of authenticity for the original and then sell it. He usually sold the forgeries to Asian collectors and real ones to New York and London galleries. Japanese collectors trusted the certificate and would not commission a European expert to authenticate a mediocre painting.

Asian Dealers Sniffed A  Fraud

Asian art experts eventually became suspicious as European and Asian galleries had the same paintings. Everyone looked at Sakhai, but he consigned the paintings through a network of fellow Zionists, and everyone denied having anything to do with forgeries. 

Christie's and Sotheby's Auction Same piece

Both paintings wre examined by art expert Sylvie Crussard at the Wildenstein Institute in Paris. She confirmed that the Christie's painting was a forgery; Christie's had to withdraw their catalogue from the printers. They also informed the owners, Gallery Muse in Tokyo. The original painting was auctioned at Sotheby's and Ely Sakhai netted $310,000. However, FBI traced the source of the forgery to Sakhai as well.
 

Arrested In April Of 2000

Charged on March 4, 2004, with eight counts of fraud. He was again released on bail.

Sells $115 Million In Oil Shares

Ely Sakhai and his associates winning permit Vic/P60 - to the south-east of the existing multibillion-dollar Esso/BHP production hub.

The permit was one of three licences in the Gippsland Basin/Bass Strait that attracted work commitments of $115 million - a fact celebrated by the Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane and Victorian Minister for Resources Theo Theophanous.

Sakhai Goes To A Country Club Prison

In July of 2005 he was sentenced to 41 months in prison, fined $12.5 million, and ordered to forfeit art works, for the crime of federal mail fraud.

The Con-Man Gets Pardoned