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.\u00a029<\/p>\n
A Barrie jury has found Jeff Cowan guilty on four counts relating to the selling of fake Norval Morrisseau paintings.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0will return to Barrie court on Dec.\u00a029 to set a date for sentencing submissions.<\/p>\n
The jury deliberated over two days and found Cowan guilty of three counts of fraud over $5,000,\u00a0as well as\u00a0uttering a forged document. Two other fraud counts were dropped by Superior Court Justice Laura Bird without reaching the jury.<\/p>\n
With a multiple-count guilty verdict, Cowan, who has been\u00a0representing himself, could face\u00a0a lengthy prison term.<\/p>\n
Court heard evidence of how Cowan was the source of dozens and perhaps hundreds of purported Morrisseau paintings that were of dubious provenance.<\/p>\n
The Crown contended, and the jury has now accepted, that Cowan worked in tandem with\u00a0elderly Essa Township resident\u00a0Jim White to sell fake Morrisseaus to unwitting buyers, who thought they were receiving authentic art from the acclaimed Indigenous painter.\u00a0Morrisseau\u00a0died in December 2007.<\/p>\n
The ruse was helped along by certificates of authenticity provided by a Markham-area man named David Bremner.<\/p>\n
White and Bremner eventually pleaded guilty, taking deals from the Crown that saw them both get house arrest that they are currently serving.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
White, in turn, found buyers, either by direct sale or consignment to galleries, or other sellers.<\/p>\n
While some of the paintings may have looked \u201creal,\u201d\u00a0there were clear signs they were not done by Morrisseau\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
The Crown meticulously demonstrated to the jury that signatures, canvases and textures proved certain paintings could not have possibly been done by Morrisseau.<\/p>\n
Bremner was called as a witness by Cowan. In giving evidence, he acknowledged more should have been done to confirm the art\u2019s authenticity.<\/p>\n
Cowan denied the charges, saying the Crown hadn\u2019t met its burden of proof and that he was being made a\u00a0scapegoat.<\/p>\n
In his final submission to the jury, Cowan told the panel he shouldn\u2019t be blamed for the fact fake art was passed off as authentic because proving provenance of mass Morrisseaus was not possible in any case.<\/p>\n
Cowan portrayed an outward confidence in his position throughout the two-month trial, telling a reporter at the outset he was going to \u201cflip the script\u201d<\/a> on the Crown\u2019s case.<\/p>\n In court, as Bird was doing some judicial housekeeping outside the presence of the jury earlier this week, she noticed alternative spellings of Cowan\u2019s first name.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n