Daniel Bouaziz's Palm Beach galleries and a $495 Basquiat offered for $12 million
Daniel Elie Bouaziz, a French and Israeli citizen who owned Danieli Fine Art and Galerie Danieli on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Florida, sold cheap reproductions as original, hand-signed works by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and other artists, individual sales running $75,000 to $240,000, while stamping his own invented "Certified International Fine Art Appraiser" title onto fraudulent certificates. An undercover FBI agent was separately offered a Basquiat he had bought for $495 for $12 million, as part of a larger deal valued at $22 million. Indicted on 17 counts of wire fraud and money laundering in July 2022, he pleaded guilty in February 2023 to a single money-laundering count and was sentenced that May to 27 months in federal prison, a $15,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.
- Year
- 2023
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Victims
- 11
- Schemes
- Art forgery fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-11-02
The facts, as recorded
- The FBI and IRS raided Bouaziz's two Worth Avenue storefronts, Danieli Fine Art and Galerie Danieli, in December 2021; he was arrested the following May and indicted in July 2022 on 17 counts of wire fraud and money laundering.
- He wrote false certificates of authenticity and removed language identifying some pieces as reproductions, stamping sales with the self-invented title "Certified International Fine Art Appraiser."
- On October 25, 2021, he sold counterfeit works he described as authentic, original, and in some cases personally signed by Andy Warhol, for between $75,000 and $240,000; the buyer paid a $200,000 down payment that Bouaziz deposited into his own account, then commingled with other funds and wired to additional accounts he controlled.
- An undercover FBI agent was offered a Basquiat that Bouaziz had actually bought for $495 for $12 million, as part of a proposed deal including fake Banksy, Keith Haring and Georgia O'Keeffe works valued at $22 million in total.
- His average sale price was about $114,000; in one transaction a couple spent nearly $500,000.
- He pleaded guilty in February 2023 to one count of money laundering; prosecutors dropped the other 16 counts in the plea agreement, which carried a sentencing guideline range of 33 to 41 months.
- US District Judge Aileen M. Cannon sentenced him on May 30, 2023, in Fort Pierce, Florida, to 27 months in prison, a $15,000 fine, and three years of supervised release; FBI Miami, the FBI's West Palm Beach Resident Agency, and IRS Criminal Investigation's Miami Field Office investigated the case.
- By sentencing, he had returned $246,000 to his 11 identified victims and pledged to make them whole within 45 days; a separate restitution hearing was scheduled for that August to resolve any remaining amount.
- As a French and Israeli citizen, he faced likely deportation after completing his sentence.
Why this case matters
This is the only case on this page run through an ordinary storefront business open to walk-in buyers, not a prestigious gallery or a one-person operation working by referral, showing the same deception working at street level.
A fake worth $495, offered for $12 million
The clearest illustration of how far the markup could run is the piece never actually sold: an undercover FBI agent was offered a Basquiat work Bouaziz had bought for $495 for $12 million, bundled into a larger $22 million deal with other fake pieces attributed to Banksy, Keith Haring and Georgia O’Keeffe. The sting did not depend on tricking an inexperienced buyer; it depended on Bouaziz believing his usual pitch would work on anyone.
A credential that existed only on his own stamp
Bouaziz signed his sales with a title, “Certified International Fine Art Appraiser,” that he invented for himself. It appeared official. It certified nothing, because no outside body had issued it or ever reviewed his appraisals.
The caveat
Bouaziz pleaded guilty and was sentenced; the facts above reflect his plea, the sentencing record, and the US Attorney’s own account of the case, not merely an allegation. The $22 million undercover deal was a sting operation that did not conclude in an actual sale, so no victim lost that amount; the real, documented losses are the sales described above and the $246,000 already returned to his 11 identified victims, with any further restitution amount set at a separate hearing not detailed in the sources available for this review.
Sources
- Palm Beach art dealer pleads guilty in high-end art fraud scheme. WPTV. Accessed 2026-11-02. Supports: The gallery names and addresses, the October 2021 sale, the $200,000 down payment and account wiring, the July 2022 indictment, and the investigating agencies.
- Palm Beach art dealer sentenced to federal prison for laundering money from art fraud scheme. IRS Criminal Investigation. Accessed 2026-11-02. Supports: The 27-month sentence, $15,000 fine, three years' supervised release, Judge Cannon's name, and the names of the prosecuting and investigating officials.
- A Palm Beach dealer peddling cheap Warhol and Basquiat replicas for millions has been sentenced to over two years in prison. USA Art News. Accessed 2026-11-02. Supports: The $495 Basquiat offered for $12 million, the $22 million total deal, the self-issued appraiser title, the removed reproduction disclaimers, the original 17 counts, the December 2021 raid, the 11 victims and $246,000 returned, his nationality and likely deportation, and prosecutor Sarah Schall's quotes.