Art Forgery Stories California
The secret recording in the Tony Tetro case
A former associate wore a wire. Prosecutors played a conversation about a Chagall in court.
In a 1989 visit to Tony Tetro’s condominium, former associate Mark Sawicki reportedly wore a hidden recorder. The Los Angeles Times reported that prosecutors later played the conversation in court, including a passage where a man identified as Tetro referred to making a Chagall.
The recording was one piece of a case involving works presented under names including Chagall, Dalí, Miró and Rockwell. The first trial ended with a deadlocked jury.
In 1993 Tetro pleaded no contest to conspiracy and six counts of forgery under an agreement with prosecutors. The recording gave the court a look at the conversations surrounding the pictures as they moved towards the market.
