A father and daughter in New Jersey have pleaded guilty to running a years-long counterfeiting scheme to trick art galleries and auction houses into buying forged paintings of works by prominent artists such as Andy Warhol, Banksy and Pablo Picasso.

Federal prosecutors said Erwin Bankowski, 50, and Karolina Bankowska, 26, commissioned an artist in Poland to create at least 200 of the fakes and ultimately defrauded buyers of at least $2m.

The counterfeits were often reproductions of lesser-known works by prominent and prolific artists, prosecutors said. The most profitable fake – purportedly by artist Richard Mayhew – was sold by auction house DuMouchelles last October for $160,000.

A representative for DuMouchelles said they had cooperated with federal authorities but were not authorised to discuss the sale further.

Several other auction houses targeted in the scheme – including Bonhams, Phillips, Freeman’s and Antique Arena – either declined or did not respond to inquiries.

Both father and daughter apologised in a New York court on Tuesday for the scheme. They face the possibility of more than three years in prison under federal guidelines, in addition to $1.9m in restitution and possible deportation to Poland.

Bankowska told a judge that her “conduct was wrong and I am guilty”. Her attorney, Todd Spodek, said his client had placed more than $1m in an escrow account.

Through a Polish interpreter, Erwin Bankowski also apologised. His attorney, Jeffrey Chabrowe, added that his client had “regrettably made a terrible decision in an effort to support his family”.

The pair – Polish citizens living in New Jersey – faced charges of wire fraud conspiracy and misrepresenting Native American–produced goods, a charge stemming from their duplication of Luiseño artist Fritz Scholder.

US attorney Joseph Nocella Jr said: “For years, these defendants painted themselves as purveyors of fine art while selling lies on canvas to unsuspecting collectors. Today’s convictions strip away the varnish and reveal the fraud underneath.”

As news of the fakes reverberated around the art world, experts described the scheme as a classic of the genre.

“The only unusual thing about this case is that the forgers got caught,” said Erin Thompson, a professor of art crime at the City University of New York.

“People think of the art world as a genteel place full of cultured people who just want to share the wonder of beautiful art. You should assume there are a lot more fakes out there.”

Prosecutors said the father and daughter began commissioning the unnamed Polish artist in 2020 to create the counterfeits. Using antique paper, they also forged stamps to attach to the paintings, adopting the names of since-shuttered galleries where a given artist might have plausibly shown their work.

The sales soon began to draw scrutiny. In March 2023, representatives for the artist Raimonds Staprans caught wind of a forged painting, titled Triple Boats, for sale by an auction house. A few days after the reps contacted the auction house, the painting sold to a buyer for $60,000, prosecutors said.

Thompson noticed other irregularities as well. The gallery stamp on the back of the faked Wyeth, for example, listed its year as 1976, but included a zoning address number that had been phased out in 1962.

With Associated Press