A former salesman for powerful Corcoran Group real-estate brokerage is going to jail for 60 days for knowingly selling 10 fake Damien Hirst prints to a British art dealer — and for forging bogus appraisals to clinch the deal.
Richard Silver, 50, who turned himself in at Manhattan Criminal Court today, had only possessed the prints in the first place because he himself had been tricked, officials said — a scam for which the original Irvine, Calif.-based seller went to prison.
Silver had originally been charged by cops with felony grand larceny, but was allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor forgery after agreeing to make $84,000 restitution to his victim, which he did before his sentencing today.
Victim Chris Walker had purchased the prints from Silver in 2006 through eBay.
The scam — in which Silver altered legitimate appraisals to convince Walker that the prints were the real thing — has also cost Silver his job. He was fired last week following his arrest.
With Wire Services