THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Victims of what has been described as one of the art world’s biggest-ever fraud investigations are sharing its far-reaching impact in court today.
David Voss, who Crown prosecutors call the “principal architect” of a scheme that produced thousands of fake Norval Morrisseau paintings from the mid-‘90s to mid-2010s, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to two charges in June.
The late Morrisseau was a trailblazing figure in contemporary Indigenous art.
Kevin Hearn, a member of the Barenaked Ladies rock band, said in a victim impact statement that the artist’s identity was “mutilated” and fraudsters misappropriated Indigenous culture to exploit the art world.
Hearn won a lawsuit in 2019 against a Toronto gallery that sold him one of the fakes, and became a key figure in uncovering the fraud ring for which eight people were charged last year.
Another major player in the scheme, Gary Lamont, has pleaded guilty to two charges and received a five-year sentence.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2024.
