Atlanta antique appraiser made $20M selling fakes, lawsuit says
An Atlanta art and antiques appraiser is being sued by a Florida multimillionaire who says he spent $20 million on thousands of fake works thinking they were created by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock and other artists.
Allan Baitcher did not immediately comment on the lawsuit filed Friday against him and his company, Peachtree Antiques Inc., in the federal trial court in Atlanta.
In that court 12 years ago, Baitcher pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge and was ordered to pay nearly $770,000 in restitution to people he had sold fake antique Tiffany Studios lamps. He was sentenced to a year of probation as part of a plea deal, court records show.
The new case was filed by Beaux Arts Museum LLC, a Florida company owned exclusively by Alvin Malnik, an attorney, business owner and philanthropist whose ventures include Miami restaurant The Forge.
Malnik, 92, used to employ Baitcher’s father and watched Baitcher grow up and become an art and antiques appraiser and auctioneer, according to the suit. It says Malnik, encouraged by his relationship with Baitcher, formed Beaux Arts Museum in 2013 to acquire and display works including carved jade and ivory, paintings, sculptures and artifacts.
Baitcher concocted an elaborate scheme over a decade to persuade Malnik to buy several thousand counterfeit and replica pieces disguised as originals, according to the complaint. It says Baitcher told Malnik the works were worth more than $200 million.
“Malnik relied on representations made to him about artwork acquired by Baitcher on his behalf because he had known Baitcher since he was a toddler and had followed his progression through the art world for decades,” the lawsuit says. “Malnik considered Baitcher a friend upon whose expertise on arts, antiques and jewelry he could rely — a fact Baitcher ultimately exploited to defraud Malnik.”
Lawyers for Malnik’s company did not immediately respond to questions about the case.
For several years, Baitcher was the largest U.S. importer of sculptures from a Chinese company called You Fine Art Sculpture Limited that creates and sells replicas of famous works of art, the suit alleges. It says Peachtree Antiques received more than 30 shipping containers weighing more than 180 tons from that company between 2016 and 2024.
Baitcher is accused of using fake names, websites, emails and phone numbers to make knockoffs appear real. He told Malnik he could use his connections with directors of Chinese museums to get authentic works at discounted prices, according to the suit.
The complaint says Malnik started doubting the authenticity of some of the pieces he’d bought from Baitcher and first got confirmation of the fraud in 2024 when he learned three Joan Miro paintings he purchased in 2019 were copies. Malnik watched as some of the originals he thought he owned were publicly auctioned off and exhibited around the world, the suit says.
It further alleges that all the art institutions Malnik contacted to verify the authenticity of works he’d bought from Baitcher — including 30 Banksy paintings — confirmed they were fake, as were the so-called museum directors Baitcher claimed to know.
Malnik confronted Baitcher, who ultimately admitted in 2024 he had acquired counterfeit and replica artwork and lied about it, the suit says. It claims Baitcher still hasn’t delivered about 850 artworks bought by Malnik.
Beaux Arts Museum says it collected, curated and displayed valuable works of art, such as original paintings and sculptures by Pablo Picasso and Ai Weiwei. Because of Baitcher’s fraud, the company says it lost money, business opportunities, property and reputation.
Malnik’s company seeks millions of dollars in damages on claims including racketeering, fraud, theft, unjust enrichment and breach of fiduciary duty.
Peachtree Antiques was incorporated in 1996, state business records show. Online, Baitcher says he graduated from the University of Georgia and has spent almost his entire life in the antique business.
About the Author
Journalist Rosie Manins is a legal affairs reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
