A Wet Canvas and Meticulous Documentation

The art wasn’t much to look at.

A heavy Buddha sculpture, purported to be a jade of great antiquity, looked more like something one might see at a Chinese takeout restaurant. Paintings credited to renowned artists such as Marc Chagall and Roy Lichtenstein appeared to be of thrift store quality, some in cheap frames.

Still, according to Los Angeles police, a 66-year-old Mission Viejo doctor managed to generate interest among potential buyers in his collection, primarily of modern masters -- a collection that turned out to be bogus.

Vilas Likhite is in jail in Los Angeles after being arrested last week on suspicion of selling a fake Mary Cassatt Impressionist painting to an undercover Los Angeles police detective. After the arrest was publicized Tuesday, a woman came forward to tell police that Likhite had sold her a piece of art that turned out to be fake as well.

In Southern California, where wealthy private collectors crave a Warhol or De Kooning to hang on the foyer wall, the kind of scam Likhite is accused of running is far from isolated.

Police and art experts say the demand among individuals for high-priced artwork, especially modern abstract paintings that are easier to copy than older works, heightens the potential for fraud.

“Most of the collectors out here are collecting things that are post-1960s and, in many cases in the contemporary art market, you don’t need the level of connoisseurship that you need� with other styles of art, said William Sheehy, owner of the Latin American Masters gallery in Beverly Hills. “A lot of these buyers are not art collectors. They’re speculators who are trying to buy works by big-name artists and get a bargain.�

Sheehy and other dealers say that although such scams are not common, a clever thief can bilk an unsuspecting, bargain-hunting collector out of tens of thousands of dollars.

“There is a presumption that a Picasso is a Picasso just because it has a signature,� said Leslie Sacks, a Brentwood art dealer. “Would anybody buy a diamond in the same way? Or a car? Or pay for brain surgery like that? So why would people not think they need to pay for the same expertise in the art world?�

LAPD Det. Don Hrycyk, who heads the department’s art theft detail, says con men often concoct fantastic identities for themselves as a way to explain their collections of paintings.

Police allege that Likhite told potential buyers and investors that he possessed a treasure trove of paintings -- mostly modern -- and sculptures bequeathed to his family by an Indian maharajah.

Hrycyk also cited the arrest three years ago of Gabor Eordogh after he tried to sell a painting by Francisco Goya worth $7 million. Police said Eordogh had stolen the painting and claimed to be a Hungarian nobleman. He created a website picturing a castle he claimed to own and produced a videotape in an attempt to sell the painting.

He was convicted of grand theft in connection with the Goya.

In 1999, Jesaia “Bob� Venger tried to sell what he claimed was a work by Renoir for $350,000. Police determined that Venger knew the painting had been debunked by art experts in Switzerland and France. He too was convicted, Hrycyk said.

To the untrained eye, police said, Likhite appeared to have possessed meticulous documentation for his work: A sculpture by the Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi was appraised at $28 million. A painting by Cassatt was on offer for $800,000. Police now believe the supporting documents are fake as well.

Likhite was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday. A man who identified himself Tuesday as Likhite’s attorney declined to comment on the case. Likhite could not be reached for comment.

Hrycyk said he was still trying to determine the origin of the fake artworks, but he speculated that some of the paintings might have been purchased at thrift stores. He said that at least one was still wet. Police also found art instruction books at Likhite’s home.

Likhite allegedly took pains to convince prospective buyers that his paintings were legitimate. For example, the fake Cassatt that he attempted to sell to the undercover officer was extensively documented in a three-ring binder. According to those documents, it was painted in 1890 and had once hung in the Mid-Continental Fine Arts Museum in Chicago. Directory and Internet searches yielded no museum with that name.

Whatever success Likhite had selling the fakes, Hrycyk said, was mostly due to the way he patiently cultivated relationships and then exploited them.

“The overwhelming impression they got from him was that he is somebody you can trust,� Hrycyk said. “I don’t think this guy was finding people right and left; he takes a long time to develop somebody.�

Despite the claims he allegedly made to potential buyers, the reality of Likhite’s life appears more ordinary, police said.

There was no indication, Hrycyk said, that he received a great inheritance of artworks from the Indian maharajah of Baroda. Though he claimed to own a billion-dollar art collection, police said, Likhite lived in a one-bedroom condominium in Mission Viejo and didn’t own a car.

*

Times staff writer Christine Hanley contributed to this report.