WILTON, CT — A Wilton man was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for selling counterfeit works of art, officials announced Wednesday.
According to the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Nicholas P. Hatch, 29, was the owner of Hatch Estate Services LLC, an estate sales company based in Norwalk. Between circa April 2020 and January 2022, Hatch used various websites, including Estatesales.org, a website specializing in estate sales and auctions, to offer for sale purported paintings by the artist Peter Max, federal officials said.
Hatch, who knew that the paintings were not authentic Peter Max paintings, used multiple aliases when interacting with purchasers through email during the sale process, and he made various representations as to the paintings’ authenticity, including providing certificates of the works’ authenticity, federal officials said.
Through this scheme, Hatch sold 145 fraudulent Peter Max paintings and defrauded 43 purchasers out of a total of $248,600, federal officials said. The court has ordered him to make full restitution.
Hatch was arrested on a criminal complaint on May 9, 2023. On August 7, 2023, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud. He is currently is released on bond, and is required to report to prison on June 17.
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