Wilton Man Pleads Guilty To Quarter-Million Dollar Art Fraud: Feds

WILTON, CT — A Wilton man pleaded guilty to fraud in Hartford Superior Court on Monday, federal officials said.

Nicholas P. Hatch, 29, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to a mail fraud offense, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. The charges stemmed from a scheme involving the sale of counterfeit paintings.

According to the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Hatch was the owner of Hatch Estate Services LLC, an estate sales company based in Norwalk. Between circa April 2020 and January 2022, Hatch used various websites, including Estatesales.org, a website specializing in estate sales and auctions, to offer for sale purported paintings by the artist Peter Max, federal officials said.

Hatch, who knew that the paintings were not authentic Peter Max paintings, used multiple aliases when interacting with purchasers through email during the sale process, and he made various representations as to the paintings’ authenticity, including providing certificates of the works’ authenticity, federal officials said.

Through this scheme, Hatch sold 145 fraudulent Peter Max paintings and defrauded 43 purchasers out of a total of $248,600, federal officials said.

Hatch was arrested on a criminal complaint on May 9, and has been detained since July 14, after he violated the conditions of pre-trial release, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 30.