Guilty Plea For Fake Paintings

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 6, 2010 8:00PM

Michael Zabrin, the Northbrook man charged with swindling hundreds out of millions by selling them forgeries of paintings by Picassos, Marc Chagall, Alexander Calder and Joan Miro, to name a few, has pleaded guilty for his part in the scheme. Zabrin revealed to prosecutors how he would order the paintings from counterfeiters and then resell the paintings on ebay. Per the Tribune:

In his signed plea agreement with prosecutors, 57-year-old Zabrin said he would send away to his Italian source for fake Picassos, saying: "I need some P's." When he needed bogus works by Roy Lichtenstein, he would say: "I need some L's."

In the summer of 2004, Zabrin purchased eight counterfeit works purportedly by Marc Chagall for $20,000 "which he resold at no less than three times his cost," according to the plea agreement which was presented to Judge Robert M. Dow Jr.

Zabrin, who pleaded guilty to a count of mail fraud, is set to be sentenced on March 23. He faces a max sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine but prosecutors expect a 10-13 year sentence.