Police Arrest Doctor in Fake Art Sting

The old doctor told his wealthy acquaintances that his treasure trove of paintings and sculptures had been bequeathed to his family by an Indian maharajah and that his late father had left a will stipulating that he could never sell them through art auction houses.

So Vilas Likhite, 66, allegedly proposed selling his collection of paintings by Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning and other modern masters directly to wealthy individuals he met in Southern California.

The prospective buyers, authorities allege, were businessmen who knew little about art. The doctor appeared to have possessed meticulous documentation: A sculpture by the Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi was appraised at $28 million. A painting by the American impressionist Mary Cassatt was on offer for $800,000.

But Los Angeles police detectives said Monday the artworks were fakes.

Tipped off by suspicious would-be buyers, detectives posing as a Korean businessman and an interpreter lured Likhite to an upscale hotel in downtown Los Angeles last week. They purchased the Cassatt painting before arresting him on suspicion of grand theft.

Investigators said the doctor came to the hotel with a dozen pieces of what he said were high-priced artwork. Detectives determined all were fakes.

Orange County sheriff’s authorities were also seeking to question him about a fake De Kooning painting Likhite reported stolen last year.

Likhite was being held in police custody in lieu of $250,000 bail. The Mission Viejo hematologist could not be reached for comment Monday.

Police were still trying to determine the source of the counterfeit artworks and said they were following leads in Denver, Boston and Australia.

Detectives were also tracking the elaborate paper trail of certificates of authenticity, appraisals and receipts Likhite allegedly concocted to pass off his counterfeits as originals.

Det. Don Hrycyk, of the LAPD’s art theft detail, said none of the artwork appeared to be copies, but were original works done in the style of the masters.

It’s not the first time Likhite has been tied to forged artwork. In 1989, when he was a physician in Massachusetts, he was accused by police of selling two fake pieces to an investment banker and a fellow physician. He denied the charges. Authorities there said Likhite told the men that the paintings came from estates and other collections. Hrycyk said Likhite was convicted of the crime and sentenced to probation.

Los Angeles police officials said they became aware of Likhite a few weeks ago from two businessmen who said the doctor had approached them. Likhite, they said, asked them to work as brokers to sell part of his art collection by helping him find wealthy buyers. One of the businessmen said he took several paintings from Likhite’s collection to a professional art dealer, who quickly declared them fakes, according to Hrycyk.

“He was trying to sell the art through brokers, people who didn’t really know much about art,” Hrycyk said. “One of these brokers got suspicious because things didn’t sound right.”

Likhite claimed to possess 700 artworks worth more than $1 billion. He told prospective buyers that he hoped to liquidate his collection without the use of auction houses.

“Dr. Likhite played the part to the hilt,” said Hrycyk. “He’s very presentable; he looks like somebody’s grandfather. He told them that he inherited the art from his father who in turn got it from a maharajah in India. There’s some truth in his story, in that his father did work for a maharajah, but none of the art was given to the father by this maharajah.”

Hrycyk was attempting to find other people who may have unwittingly bought Likhite’s fakes. He said he was also looking into reports that Likhite sought investors to help him acquire artwork.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies, meanwhile, were investigating Likhite’s claim that someone stole a De Kooning painting valued at $1.5 million from his Orange County condominium.

Detectives said they recently learned that Likhite had actually left the painting with a friend. It was also a fake, Hrycyk said.