MA MA - Ana Walshe, 39, regional general manager of a real estate company, Cohasset, 1 Jan 2023

[PommyMommy]

So, whatever happened to the real Andy Warhol paintings ? Did they really exist? Someone retrieved the rest of the art collection from the original owner.
M00

That's a good question. I have no idea. Anybody?

 

[cp0510]

So, whatever happened to the real Andy Warhol paintings ? Did they really exist? Someone retrieved the rest of the art collection from the original owner.
M00

My understanding is that they did exist and belonged to a friend and Walshe copied them, so the originals were given back to the owner, presumably.

“In 2021, Brian Walshe pled guilty to federal fraud charges. According to court documents, investigators believe he took the authentic paintings from a friend and used photographs of them and their documentation to attempt to sell replicas on eBay.”

Here's What We Know About Brian Walshe, Husband of Missing Cohasset Woman Ana Walshe

The husband of missing Cohasset, Massachusetts, woman Ana Walshe, was arrested Sunday on accusations he misled authorities during the investigation. NBC10 Boston has learned this is not the first time he’s had a run-in with the law – he pled guilty in 2021 to federal fraud charges.

www.nbcboston.com

 

[Lusitana]

I highly suspect Ana was planning to take the kids and leave to DC for good. Without her husband.

 

[Knox]

So, whatever happened to the real Andy Warhol paintings ? Did they really exist? Someone retrieved the rest of the art collection from the original owner.
M00

Court documents from a federal fraud case shed some light on Brian Walshe's history with law enforcement. In 2021, Brian Walshe pled guilty to federal fraud charges. According to court documents, investigators believe he took the authentic paintings from a friend and used photographs of them and their documentation to attempt to sell replicas on eBay.

The case started in 2016 when a buyer saw two Andy Warhol paintings for sale on eBay. The listing, according to prosecutors, included photographs of authentication stamps. The buyer arraigned to buy those paintings, part of the "Shadows" series, for $80,000. However, after having an assistant pick the paintings up, the buyer discovered there were no authentication stamps and that the canvas looked new. This ultimately led to an FBI investigation.

Brian Walshe had gained access to the paintings by telling a friend, who was the lawful owner of the paintings, that he could help sell them for a good price, the court documents state. However, that friend told investigators that after Brian Walshe took the art, he was unable to contact him. The art in question was valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Brian Walshe was arrested in that investigation in 2018. He would ultimately plead guilty to one count each of wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud, possession of converted goods and unlawful monetary transaction.

Here's What We Know About Brian Walshe, Husband of Missing Cohasset Woman Ana Walshe

The husband of missing Cohasset, Massachusetts, woman Ana Walshe, was arrested Sunday on accusations he misled authorities during the investigation. NBC10 Boston has learned this is not the first time he’s had a run-in with the law – he pled guilty in 2021 to federal fraud charges.

www.nbcboston.com

 

[detective.moon]

BW "has also continued his work with his partners in his business Capital Letters, which has been renamed Level 4 Coaching

imagine having this guy as your coach

 

[audge86]

I don't think we should judge Ana in the art fraud case. We have no idea what happened there. If she helped communicate, it is possible that she thought he was selling the real paintings. We don't have enough information to say whether she helped him commit fraud.

 

[Snoop Sister]

That's a good question. I have no idea. Anybody?

Yes they did exist and he sold them to someone else imo

Here's What We Know About Brian Walshe, Husband of Missing Cohasset Woman Ana Walshe

The husband of missing Cohasset, Massachusetts, woman Ana Walshe, was arrested Sunday on accusations he misled authorities during the investigation. NBC10 Boston has learned this is not the first time he’s had a run-in with the law – he pled guilty in 2021 to federal fraud charges.

www.nbcboston.com

 

[Knox]

This is a good read with a lot of information.

DocumentCloud

www.documentcloud.org

 

[TexLil]

Poor little boys now in state custody! IMO, mom has passed and dad is in jail.

Thinking of these three boys tonight. I hope that they are in state custody with loving, trained professionals, but that is only temporary. I hope they will be enveloped into their mom's family soon. Can't imagine how children recover from such trauma. All MOO.

 

[WingsOverTX]

I just can't see her risking her kids in all of this but who knows.

I firmly believe she knew exactly who he is when she married him & decided to have children with him. But as a victim, I feel terrible for her. And those children

 

[TexLil]

I don't think we should judge Ana in the art fraud case. We have no idea what happened there. If she helped communicate, it is possible that she thought he was selling the real paintings. We don't have enough information to say whether she helped him commit fraud.

Agreed. And this is just MOO, but it's very possible that as he was declining into deeper crime schemes, she was working to get her children and herself free. She had a lucrative career in DC. All I've seen points to her being hard working. It's possible to me that he realized she might be leaving him and took action. MOO

 

[WingsOverTX]

Thank you to everyone who has posted so much excellent information and interesting commentary in the short time we have been watching this situation. I've read every post, but did some volunteer work today and didn't have a chance until now to make a couple of observations.

Ana probably told Brian she was done with their marriage over the holidays. I think Ana tolerated Brian for many years because he did contribute to their marriage financially, albeit through illegal means - art fraud and plundering his wealthy, deceased father's estate. Furthermore, Brian Walshe's cousin said it was "common knowledge among friends and family members that Brian absconded with almost $1 million from his father in prior years" before his dad wrote him out of the will. Brian also seemed adept at getting large sums of money from his mother. He had gotten over a half-million dollars in attorney fees from his mom, not to mention she was paying the rent on the current Massachusetts house.

However, Brian's house of cards finally fell and Ana knew he'd be nothing but a liability going forward. Brian was initially cut a big break in the art fraud case against him. As of June 2022, he wasn't going to have to serve jail time, so at least he could be at home to take care of the kids while Ana worked in DC and paid the bills.

However, the feds found out Brian plundered his deceased father's assets while he was on probation and they reassessed his sentence, now recommending Brian serve 30 months in prison. He also had restitution to pay to the victims of his art fraud crimes. Even though Brian knew he was disinherited by his father, he got access to his dad's house after his father died and fraudulently helped himself to over $100,000 in cash; he also took paintings by Miro and Dali, pottery and art glass and a car from his dad's estate, selling them all.

Ana didn't leave Brian while he was acquiring money through fraud and from his parents. She was partly complicit in Brian's illegal behavior. The feds said Ana participated in the communications with the purchaser and sale of the fraudulent Warhol paintings. According to the court document of June 7, 2022, "the defendant's wife benefitted from the fraud here, which took place before they were married but were together: the defendant transferred approximately $115,000 directly to or for the benefit of his wife from funds provided by the victims."

Brian was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and clearly liked the finer things in life, but he seemed to have little motivation to work towards obtaining the wealth himself. In the link below, it was said that Brian Walshe “once bought every ounce of [Boston restaurant Deuxave’s] white truffles and every wine from his birth year during dinner.” It seems that sense of entitlement extended to Ana. If she wasn't going to support him, who would?

Mom of Three Mysteriously Vanishes After Leaving for D.C. Real-Estate Job

Wowsie!

 

[Alethea]

It might have been as simple as even though he made bad decisions in the art fraud and estate fraud, he was day to day a good dad. That might have been enough. But him going away to prison what was she going to do? She would need to both work and take care of the children. It’s a lot for anyone even in the best of circumstances. She may have told him it’s a step too far now.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I wonder if Ana left them messages? Or did someone make those calls to those people using Ana's phone, hanging up before they were answered?

I think the article quoted mom as saying Ana called "to wish me Happy New Year", but I don't think it was specified whether Mom was just assuming that was the purpose of the call, or whether Ana left a voicemail with that as the message. MOO

 

[keek]

I think the article quoted mom as saying Ana called "to wish me Happy New Year", but I don't think it was specified whether Mom was just assuming that was the purpose of the call, or whether Ana left a voicemail with that as the message. MOO

She sadly reached none of them. Mom saw while asleep pretty much, saw her name and said oh i'll call her back in the a.m. Gutting.

 

[Choochoobella]

It's complicated.

Brian “borrowed” two original Andy Warhol “Shadow” paintings from the owner of the paintings who lived in South Korea, telling the owner that he would get him a good price for the paintings. The guy who owned the original Warhol paintings had met Brian in 1994 when they were both students at Carnegie Melon University. Brian dropped out of Carnegie Melon before getting his degree.

Walshe ultimately sold the legit Shadow paintings and supposedly provided information to the government that would allow them to find the paintings. However, the authentic paintings have not yet been turned over to federal custody, according to court records viewed by The Globe. You can read about this in the link below.

Missing Cohasset mom Ana Walshe's husband seen on camera as police return to home, children removed

The convicted art fraudster husband of missing Cohasset, Massachusetts, mom Ana Walshe was spotted on camera Sunday as police checked the family home again for clues.

www.foxnews.com

Simultaneously, Brian must have had someone create copies of these 2 paintings which were listed for sale on Ebay. Brian posted all of the information that would make a potential buyer believe the paintings were original, but the information was from the ORIGINAL paintings (photographs of the original paintings, Warhol Foundation authentication stamps, bill of sale of $240,000, etc.). Brian was able to sell the two paintings to a guy on ebay for $80,000. The buyer quickly recognized the paintings were frauds and reported the crime. Brian was supposed to reimburse the buyer for $80,000, but has only reimbursed him for a little over $30,000 to-date.

The above information was in the Documents link provided by Gardenista and others.

There is a good article focusing on the art transactions at this link: Lynn Man Caught Selling Fake Andy Warhol Paintings On eBay, US Attorney Says

 

[hibachai]

If the kids are in state custody, I’m assuming the MIL can’t take them for some reason. Possibly implicated?

 

[waldojabba]

I don't think we should judge Ana in the art fraud case. We have no idea what happened there. If she helped communicate, it is possible that she thought he was selling the real paintings. We don't have enough information to say whether she helped him commit fraud.

Thank you for saying this @audge86 - I totally agree. We have no idea if she had any idea about the fraud. She answered an email about the sale - how does that indicate she knew it was a fraud. Her husband had been given the originals by a friend. She probably only knew her husband's side of the story on everything - esp on the father and inheritance and imo all may have been backed up by the MIL. IMO there is a lot more to the back story than just what is in the doc we have. IMO She got conned by a con man ( similar to JDulos and Fotis). Both women had children rapidly. Eager to start a family and live the fairy tale only to find out perhaps it was really a horror story.
IMO Some of us go through relationships like that and learn our lesson and live to see another day. IMO others are not so lucky.

 

[LvsAMystry]

What I think is that he needs her more than she needs him. So I just can’t see him doing anything to her. I really think they have, or she has a plan.
And have we learned if she was in Serbia by herself or with her husband and children yet?
Edited to add that as usual, I’m wrong! Just once, I’d like to get one right!

Its not a bad thing to be an eternal optimist you know! Its honestly enviable to someone such as me the eternal pessimist

 

[bestill]

Poor little boys now in state custody!

This tells me that there's a lot more to the story that was told about seeing Ana leave early NY day.