But if you've spent any significant time in Coconut Grove or Brickell, you may well have noticed Roberts tooling around in his Bentley SUV, and if you did, you almost certainly did a double-take at the sight of him: diminutive, nattily attired, sporting a toupee that's, well, impossible to unsee.
If you happened to wander into Miami Fine Art Gallery, Roberts' place of business on Coconut Grove's Commodore Plaza, you'd have been struck by the extensive collection of works by the likes of Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso. You may even have been offered a Dunkin' Donuts pastry in lieu of the sparkling wines and passed hors d'oeuvres found at many a gallery exhibition — perhaps a nod to one of the Warhol works on display, or maybe just a whimsical life-in-Miami touch.
You may well not have assayed it, but a quick Google search would have uncovered eye-opening traces Roberts' life of deception, previous criminal convictions, and stretches behind prison bars.
More than a decade has passed since Roberts' last conviction, but Wednesday's broad-daylight raid would seem to indicate he's back in law enforcement's crosshairs. A day later, federal prosecutors announced that Roberts was indicted on money laundering and wire fraud charges for allegedly running a scheme selling forged Warhol artwork.
Roberts' attorney, Jonathan Davidoff, declined to answer New Times' questions about the FBI's unannounced visit or his client's checkered past. But as we await more details, we've encapsulated Roberts' life of fraud and forgery in a timeline:
The 1960s: A Childhood in Miami-Dade County
After his mother killed his father when he was 13 years old while living in Perrine, an unincorporated neighborhood in south Miami-Dade County, Roberts and his two brothers moved in with their great-aunt and uncle in Miami Lakes. His great-aunt described him as a "charming conniver" with a tendency for exaggeration. According to a 1986 New York Times article, Roberts dropped out of the University of Miami after just two semesters without telling his family. He claimed the movie theater he worked at was paying for his tuition and even presented a fake report card with straight As.Roberts would later claim, in various publications, that he grew up in New York and studied at New York University (NYU), then trained at the international auction house Sotheby's.
1986: Promising Stockbroker Career Cut Short by Fraud Conviction
Roberts, just 23, was arrested on 19 counts of mail fraud in South Florida federal court for depleting his great-uncle Frank Gory's stock portfolio through unauthorized transactions. Roberts managed his great-uncle's portfolio while working as a stockbroker at a penny stock company and later at E.F. Hutton and Merrill Lynch. While Roberts convinced his uncle that his account had increased to a whopping $55 million, Roberts actually depleted the account from $17 million to $8.2 million while he raked in millions in commissions and lived lavishly. He pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud and conspiracy and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. (It is unclear how long he served).
2010: Romero Britto Wins Injunction
Following a federal permanent injunction, Roberts could no longer operate his Britto in the Grove art business to sell Romero Britto artwork. The Brazilian artist learned that Roberts and his wife, Silvia Castro Roberts, sold counterfeit Britto work at their gallery and on eBay. In a separate federal lawsuit against Roberts, an art dealer in Minnesota who purchased 65 pieces alleged that 22 were confirmed forgeries. In his lawsuit, Ryan Mack said he first connected with Roberts after he purchased a painting from one of Roberts' galleries from a representative named "Linda Safira," who Mack claimed was actually Roberts' wife using the name of their pet cat. (Mack's lawsuit in Minnesota federal court was voluntarily dismissed amid Roberts' 2011 bankruptcy filing).
March 2014: Cesar Alvarez Lawsuit
Alvarez sued Roberts in Miami-Dade circuit court, alleging that he cosigned his artwork, which included Fernando Botero sculptures and Joan Miró oil paintings, to Roberts to split the profits; however, he claims that Roberts kept or sold the artwork without paying him the tens of thousands of dollars he says he owed. Nine months later, the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed.2015: Criminal Conviction for Art Fraud
Following the Britto saga, Roberts faced criminal charges for running a Peter Max forgery ring out of his Coconut Grove gallery, Max in the Grove. According to federal court documents, Roberts' two children, Brittney Lynn Roberts, and Leslie Roberts III, created forged Max artwork that Roberts later sold to unassuming clients. He later pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and was sentenced to 22 months in prison. He was then placed under three years of supervised release. Court documents state that Roberts assisted prosecutors in their prosecutions against his children.July 2018: Violates Supervised Release
Roberts was charged with violating his supervised release conditions after he advised his wife on what art to purchase for their galleries Via World Art Gallery and Grove Fine Art, federal court documents state. Just a couple of days after Roberts was released on a $50,000 bond, the FBI said Roberts violated his conditions again after he tried to negotiate the sale and delivery of a $75,000 Basquiat painting. "The defendant failed to deliver the Basquiat painting to the buyer and instead offered a refund of $60,000," court documents state. "Throughout this art sale, the buyer stated the defendant had been using an alias of 'Howard Roberts' to engage in art or painting sales. Lastly, the defendant offered to sell the buyer additional artworks by artist Jeff Koons."
September 2018: Supervised Release Revoked
Roberts was sentenced to five months behind bars in September 2018 for violating his supervised release. In May 2019, he was back under supervised release for two years. August 2019: Violates Supervised Release (Again)
Roberts was charged once again for violating his supervised release after he purchased a piece of art at Frame Art Incorporated, a custom framing shop in Brickell.His supervised release was modified with new conditions, according to court documents: Roberts would have to provide complete access to his financial information and was prohibited from visiting or entering any art galleries, frame shops, or other places where art is displayed or sold.
March 2019: Eve Marie Storm Johnson Lawsuit
Eve Storm Johnson alleged that Roberts owed her $270,000 for pieces she purchased in 2017 and never received. The state complaint noted that Johnson, Roberts' customer since 2012, had taken steps to authenticate other pieces of art she had purchased and believes that "some to all of the pieces purchased are unauthenticated and/or forgeries," the court documents in Miami-Dade circuit court state. July 2020: Edmundo Gugliotta Court Judgment
Miami-Dade circuit court documents indicate that Edmundo Gugliotta, an avid art collector, won a $46,980 judgment against Roberts in August 2020 for selling him Peter Max forgeries.December 2021: Bogdan Delivery LLC Lawsuit
After Bogdan Delivery purchased a Retna painting for $218,268 through Roberts at Miami Fine Art in November 2021, the Miami-Dade circuit court complaint asserts that Roberts wired the $200,000 money to a Los Angeles-based gallery for the painting and pocketed the remaining $18,268. But, the plaintiff says it did not receive the painting in return. The lawsuit claims that the other defendants in the lawsuit (Iron Eye Art Group and Retna, AKA Marquis Duriel Lewis) only returned $50,000 a month later and still had the painting in their possession. The suit was voluntarily dismissed in February 2022.June 2024: Artnet Interview
Roberts provided a different version of his life prior to entering the art world. He claimed to have studied at NYU and trained at Sotheby's.August 2024: Perlman Family Lawsuit
Richard, Matthew, and Judy Perlman allege in a lawsuit in Miami-Dade circuit court that they spent $6 million on fake Andy Warhol artwork from Roberts after he allegedly posed as an employee from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, selling for below-market prices. December 2024: CEOWorld Interview
In an interview with CEOWorld magazine, Roberts is described as "a native New Yorker turned Miami cultural icon" who grew up in New York City. He touted his ties to NYU and Sotheby's and said he moved to Miami in 2008. February 2025: Nicholas Bridger Lawsuit
In Miami-Dade circuit court, Nicholas Bridger is trying to claw back nearly $450,000 from Roberts for art by the street artist Bansky, which he says he purchased in 2017 but never received. He also alleges that Roberts sold him three pieces by French street artist Invader in 2019. Someone who worked with the artist confirmed the works were forgeries, and their accompanying letters of authenticity were "a scam." Bridger, who lost his toddler-aged daughter in 2018, says he believes Roberts took advantage of his grief.
April 9, 2025: FBI Raid in Coconut Grove
Video captured FBI agents taking cardboard boxes from Roberts' gallery on Commodore Plaza. April 10, 2025: Indictment Announced
It turns out that on the same day as the FBI raid, Roberts was indicted on wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering charges for allegedly selling forged Warhol art. Federal prosecutors say Roberts sold artworks to victims allegedly from the Warhol Foundation that were, in fact, forgeries.Another man charged in the scheme allegedly posed as an employee from a New York-based auction house to fraudulently authenticate the fake art. The details in the indictment appear to match those in the Perlman case.
