[MSN] Jacksonville. Art dealer on the lam arrested for selling fakes

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The Florida Times-Union

February 1, 2008

Art dealer on the lam arrested for selling fakes

By Brandy Hilboldt Allport,
The Times-Union

When collector Ed Rogan decided to add some pre-World War II Japanese
advertising prints to his collection last week at a Jacksonville antique
show, he didn't move fast enough.

Before Rogan could return to a booth where he had already examined the
pieces from the 1930s, it was shut down.

What he didn't know is between his visits, U.S. Postal Service authorities
had swooped in and arrested the vendor, James F. Kennedy, 55, of Northbrook,
Ill., on a federal warrant.

"I went back just before 6, and chairs were blocking off the booth, and all
the lights were turned off," Rogan said.

FBI spokesman Jeff Westcott in Jacksonville said Kennedy was charged with
retaliating against a witness as part of a larger art fraud investigation by
the FBI and the Postal Service.

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The federal warrant was filed in Chicago.

Kennedy went before a federal judge in Jacksonville Wednesday and was
returned to Chicago. Westcott said he could not speak to other details of
the case.

In 2004, Kennedy was charged in Milwaukee with trying to sell works
purportedly by masters such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Henri
Matisse. He was found guilty then of misdemeanor art forgery, according to
court documents.

Jeff Farkas is an art conservator who examined watercolors, prints and other
pieces seized from a vehicle outside an art dealer's store in the Milwaukee
case.

"We looked at all the 450 drawings and they were all fakes," he told the
Times-Union Thursday. "We keep track of this guy."

Near the ads for mechanical airplane valves Rogan was interested in were at
least three framed prints that appeared to be signed and numbered by
Picasso, said Karyl DeSousa, who organizes dealers for the Pilot Club
Antique Show and Sale. She said Kennedy was a last-minute addition to the
lineup of more than 30 vendors.

Kennedy called DeSousa about a week before the show to see if there were any
vendor spaces still available. He told DeSousa his business was called
Kennedy Fine Art. She said Kennedy did not record a sale during the show.

brandy.allport at jacksonville.com

(904) 359-4378

dana.treen at jacksonville.com (904) 359-4091

This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020108/met_242544147.shtml.