Art Forger Sentenced to Four Years for Selling Fake Renaissance Woodcuts

Earl Marshawn Washington was ordered to pay over $200,000 in restitution after swindling collectors with counterfeit Renaissance artworks.

Earl Marshawn Washington, 61, was sentenced to four years in prison for selling counterfeit 15th century European woodcuts falsely attributed to renowned artists.
The forgeries, sold under the alias 'River Seine,' duped collectors in France and the US out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Washington and his then-wife Zsanett Nagy were involved in the scheme, with Nagy also receiving a two-year prison sentence and facing potential deportation.
The FBI’s Art Crimes Unit led the investigation, highlighting the ongoing issue of art forgeries and fraud within the collector community.
Art collectors express growing concern over art fraud, with a 2023 report finding 87% of affluent North American collectors worried about the authenticity of their artworks.