A Wilton man who was accused of selling Peter Max prints as original paintings and defrauding dozens of people has pleaded guilty to mail fraud, according to federal officials.
Nicholas P. Hatch, 29, of Ridgefield, was the owner of Hatch Estate Services LLC, an estate sales company based in Norwalk, according to the United States Attorney’s office.
The investigation started when a former employee who saw around 100 Peter Max paintings in the company’s warehouse in Bridgeport contacted authorities and said he had been told that Hatch added paint and Peter Max’s signature to prints to sell them as original paintings, according to the affidavit.
From around April 2020 to January 2022, he used various websites, including Estatesales.org -- a website specializing in estate sales and auctions -- to sell paintings purported to be by the artist Peter Max, which Hatch knew weren’t authentic, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
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They said he used multiple aliases when communicating with customers and provided certificates of the works’ authenticity.
Hatch is accused of selling 145 fraudulent Peter Max paintings and defrauding 43 purchasers out of a total of $248,600.
Hatch was arrested on May 9 and has been detained since July 14, 2023, after he violated the conditions of pre-trial release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
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He pleaded guilty to mail fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney and sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 30.
