7 indicted on charges of making, selling counterfeit art prints

Seven people face federal charges alleging they produced or sold counterfeit prints of famous works from artists Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol and others.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago announced the charges in an indictment today.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fiztgerald says the defendants are accused of selling thousands of counterfeit prints. He says they reaped more than $5 million in two overlapping fraud schemes.

The indictment names two suburban Chicago art dealers, a Florida art dealer, a New York man and three Europeans.

Fitzgerald says the suspects sold the fake prints primarily on the online auction site eBay.