Jeff Cowan found guilty of fraud and forgery for his role in sale of dodgy art purportedly painted by Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau; Cowan due back in court Dec. 29
A Barrie jury has found Jeff Cowan guilty on four counts relating to the selling of fake Norval Morrisseau paintings.
Cowan, 49, now resides in Niagara-on-the-Lake, but previously lived in St. Thomas while orchestrating the fraud for which he has now been convicted. He will return to Barrie court on Dec. 29 to set a date for sentencing submissions.
The jury deliberated over two days and found Cowan guilty of three counts of fraud over $5,000, as well as uttering a forged document. Two other fraud counts were dropped by Superior Court Justice Laura Bird without reaching the jury.
With a multiple-count guilty verdict, Cowan, who has been representing himself, could face a lengthy prison term.
Court heard evidence of how Cowan was the source of dozens and perhaps hundreds of purported Morrisseau paintings that were of dubious provenance.
The Crown contended, and the jury has now accepted, that Cowan worked in tandem with elderly Essa Township resident Jim White to sell fake Morrisseaus to unwitting buyers, who thought they were receiving authentic art from the acclaimed Indigenous painter. Morrisseau died in December 2007.
The ruse was helped along by certificates of authenticity provided by a Markham-area man named David Bremner.
White and Bremner eventually pleaded guilty, taking deals from the Crown that saw them both get house arrest that they are currently serving.
White was called as a Crown witness, telling the jury of visiting with Cowan, who provided paintings to him in exchange for payment that he would only take in cash or bank transfer.
White, in turn, found buyers, either by direct sale or consignment to galleries, or other sellers.
While some of the paintings may have looked “real,” there were clear signs they were not done by Morrisseau’s hand.
The Crown meticulously demonstrated to the jury that signatures, canvases and textures proved certain paintings could not have possibly been done by Morrisseau.
Bremner was called as a witness by Cowan. In giving evidence, he acknowledged more should have been done to confirm the art’s authenticity.
Cowan denied the charges, saying the Crown hadn’t met its burden of proof and that he was being made a scapegoat.
In his final submission to the jury, Cowan told the panel he shouldn’t be blamed for the fact fake art was passed off as authentic because proving provenance of mass Morrisseaus was not possible in any case.
Cowan portrayed an outward confidence in his position throughout the two-month trial, telling a reporter at the outset he was going to “flip the script” on the Crown’s case.
In court, as Bird was doing some judicial housekeeping outside the presence of the jury earlier this week, she noticed alternative spellings of Cowan’s first name.
The judge asked him to clarify. Rather than quickly provide the correct spelling of his name, he retrieved his health card, as though he needed reassurance himself.
Just before he was charged in 2023, Cowan had contacted BarrieToday’s sister sites in the Niagara area, telling reporters stories of lost treasure buried by missionaries in South America centuries ago. Forced to flee Bolivia with police on his tail, he said his quest to return there to find the treasure was only interrupted by the criminal charges he faced in the Morrisseau fraud case.
Cowan left court without comment after the jury rendered its decision. He also did not respond to a text message seeking comment.
The verdict is likely the final chapter in a legal saga that has stretched five years at numerous courthouses, from Newmarket to Thunder Bay, and saw eight people eventually charged.
The Crown eventually secured convictions against five men — two in Thunder Bay and three between the Newmarket and Barrie courthouses. Four ended with guilty pleas, while Cowan was the lone accused to take his case to trial.
Three others who originally faced charges eventually had all their charges withdrawn.
Morrisseau, who was also known as Copper Thunderbird, is generally considered Canada’s most accomplished contemporary Indigenous artist. His legacy has been tarnished by the mass production of fakes purportedly done in his name, which he tried to help stamp out late in life.
The issue bubbled to the surface with the release of a documentary titled There Are No Fakes, which prompted a police investigation, culminating in the laying of charges by the Ontario Provincial Police and Thunder Bay police.