Latest news with #Haring
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Berks man pleads guilty in fake artwork sales
A Berks County man has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges he sold about $186,000 in counterfeit artwork that he claimed had been created by prominent artists, including the late Keith Haring. Carter Reese, 77, pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl in Philadelphia to one count each of wire fraud and mail fraud, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney David Metcalf of the Eastern District. Prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of $186,125, the total amount Reese received in selling the fake artwork, officials said. According to court documents: Reese, claiming to have more than 40 years of experience in art and antiquities, operated Carter P. Reese American Antiques and Fine Art. Online records indicate the business lists a Wyomissing address. An unnamed person — referred to as Associate 1 in court documents — pleaded guilty in federal court in Illinois in September 2010 to six counts of mail fraud and wire fraud in the sale of counterfeit artwork, some of which he had purchased on eBay. He admitted he and co-conspirators schemed to sell limited edition fine art prints and that he forged the signatures of certain artists on those prints. Prosecutors note Associate 1 died in November 2021. From February 2019 to March 2021, Reese sold and tried to sell art that he represented as genuine pieces created by artists, including Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jean Cocteau, Fernand Léger, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Haring, a Kutztown native. Reese purchased and acquired pieces from Associate 1 at low prices. Many of the pieces Reese sold appeared identical to images of artwork reproductions Associate 1 bought on eBay. Reese told potential buyers that he purchased more than 100 pieces of art from a collector — identified in court papers as Individual 1 — including work by Bacon, Basquiat, Cocteau, Haring, Léger, Lichtenstein, Miró, Picasso and Warhol. Individual 1 never owned or sold such a collection to Reese. At the time Reese offered this art for sale, Individual 1 was dead and thus unavailable to verify Reese's claims for potential buyers. Reese told potential buyers that he acquired an additional set of art from an individual named 'Ken James' who was friends with various renowned artists. 'Ken James' was an alias used by Associate 1 so potential buyers would not know he had been convicted of selling fake artwork. Associate 1 did not have the purported connections to such artists. To support his claims that the artwork was authentic, Reese concealed Associate 1's involvement with the fraudulent artwork; provided prospective buyers with false provenance information such as affidavits signed by himself and an attorney stating that he had acquired the artwork from Individual 1 and sold prospective buyers art on which forged inscriptions and signatures had been added. Reese continued to claim the artwork was authentic even after some potential buyers told him the work was fake. A potential buyer also informed Reese of Associate 1's conviction, but Reese continued to offer artwork he had obtained from Associate 1 as authentic. During a telephone call on July 16, 2020, Reese told a person in Florida that he had acquired various works of art from Individual 1 and offered to sell them. On July 30, 2020, Reese sent a package to the person in Florida containing an affidavit notarized in Berks County falsely certifying that he had acquired artwork by Miró, Lichtenstein, Haring, Picasso, Basquiat, Bacon, Warhol and others from Individual 1. Reese is scheduled to be sentenced in September and faces a maximum possible prison term of 40 years.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Funding freeze comes as nonprofit prepares Morgantown project
Jan. 28—MORGANTOWN — For Libera WV, $1.2 million is life-changing money. It's a huge shot in the arm to the agency. More importantly, it has the potential to literally change the lives of the at-risk young women the nonprofit serves. Women coming into adulthood out of the foster care system, the juvenile justice system and other scenarios that, statistically, increase the likelihood of poverty, homelessness and substance abuse. So, it was cause for celebration late last year when the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh's Board of Directors announced Libera would receive a $1.2 million forgivable loan through the bank's Affordable Housing Program to finance a project in Morgantown. On Jan. 15, the agency purchased the former school building-turned Chestnut Ridge Commons Bed & Breakfast at 1000 Stewartstown Road from the Morgantown Lodge of Perfection Scottish Rite Masons with the goal of turning the building into a transitional housing and services center for its clients. March-Westin came aboard and Libera announced it was working with its contractor to have the necessary renovations complete by the end of the year. But as of Tuesday morning, all those plans seem far less certain. The White House ordered a pause on an untold number of federal grants, loans and other financial assistance programs pending a review by the Trump administration. Included in that pause are the federal grant programs that are the lifeline for nonprofits, like Libera WV. It's unclear how long the freeze will last. "It's not our full budget, but it's a significant portion, " Libera Founder and Executive Director Karen Haring said of federal grant dollars. "It was sort of a vague announcement, but our understanding is that even the grants we have right now are paused, " Haring said. "They're paused while they're being reviewed, but you have to ask yourself how long it's going to take to review them all." Haring said she doesn't believe the affordable housing funds from the FHLBP will be impacted by this pause, but a prolonged disruption in the nonprofit's ability to seek reimbursement for staffing and other costs will impact not only that project, but the nonprofit's core mission. After all, what good is a new transitional housing facility if you have no employees ? "What we're really hoping is that we can save the jobs of those who would be working at that building, and those who would be serving the foster youth, youth coming out of recovery and those who are justice impacted. We're hoping to be able to keep employing those people we employ, " she said. Haring said she counts Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice,-in his former role as governor — as supporters and says she knows they will want to keep jobs in West Virginia and assistance in place for the state's most at-risk population, foster youth. "We're concerned for those we serve. We're concerned we'll be able to continue the work. We're concerned we'll be able to keep jobs. And of course I'm concerned, not only for Libera, but all the other nonprofits we work with, " Haring said. "As local, nonprofit leaders, we're trying to make West Virginia great and we're trying to build brighter futures for youth and young women in West Virginia." She continued. "I'm a person that tries to live in the moment ... I think it's too early to say anything about the future. At this point, the plan is to move forward, but if our staffing is affected, I don't know what the future holds."
