Dealer Ezra Chowaiki has pleaded guilty to wire fraud after allegations that he fabricated sales of works at his Manhattan gallery. “As he admitted today in federal court, Ezra Chowaiki ran a multimillion-dollar fraud on art dealers and collectors around the country,” says attorney Geoffrey S. Berman of the Southern District of New York. “In some instances, Chowaiki sold artwork, purportedly on consignment, without the owners’ authorization. In other instances, he took money from clients purportedly to purchase artwork, and kept the money but purchased no art.”
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