California man accused of defrauding Utah lady with faux van Gogh, Dali, Monet work

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PROVO — A California jeweler is accused of defrauding a Utah lady out of tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} of knickknack, watches and different objects by giving her work he mentioned had been made by Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali and Claude Monet however turned out to be faux.

William David Leavitt, of Carlsbad, California, was charged final week in Utah’s 4th District Court docket with communications fraud and 5 counts of prison simulation, each second-degree felonies.

In January 2022, a lady contacted a Utah County jeweler about promoting a few of her jewellery and organized to have her objects positioned in his store on consignment, in line with charging paperwork. Leavitt turned conscious of the jewellery and wished to fulfill with the lady.

“On March 1, 2022, Levitt and his assistant arrived on the complainant’s house with a truckload of work, together with a portray he claimed to be an genuine van Gogh. Leavitt left the work with the complainant for her consideration for a potential buy,” charging paperwork state.

Ten days later, the lady traded a few of her jewellery for a diamond bracelet Leavitt claimed was value $170,000, in line with the costs. She paid Leavitt a steadiness of $68,000 and later purchased a van Gogh and Dali from him, the costs state.

“The complainant bought a number of different work and paid Leavitt $200,000 by verify and in addition traded a few of her watches and jewellery. She and Leavitt additionally traded extra jewellery for the Salvador Dali portray,” in line with charging paperwork.

In January 2023, Leavitt agreed to buy furnishings from the lady and claimed “he would pay her $30,000 inside a few days and the rest in 60 days,” the costs state.

However Leavitt didn’t pay her for the furnishings and gave her a supposed Monet portray as a substitute, the costs state. The lady mentioned she was not within the Monet.

“At that very same time, the complainant requested Leavitt for the value determinations he promised her for the work she bought. Over the subsequent few months Leavitt made excuses for nonpayment and furnished no value determinations. On July 11, 2023, Leavitt met with (the) complainant and said he was going by means of a tricky time and continued to evade her questions and requests,” the costs state.

Ultimately, the lady employed her personal specialists “to evaluate the authenticity of the van Gogh, Salvador Dali and Monet. The three work had been discovered to be faux. The diamond bracelet was additionally evaluated and located to have lab-grown diamonds not real diamonds, and price $18,000 (and) not the traded worth of $68,000,” in line with the costs.

“On or about July 31, 2023, Leavitt and the complainant opened an escrow for $800,000 funded with a purple diamond, plus cash and securities, whereas discussions had been ongoing. On Aug. 25, the complainant came upon the purple diamond was not real, and price solely $100,” the costs proceed.

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