Second accused in Norval Morrisseau art fraud ring pleads guilty

THUNDER BAY — A second accused of operating an art fraud ring to sell fraudulent paintings attributed to world-renowned Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau has pleaded guilty to two charges.

David Voss, 52, of Thunder Bay, appeared before Justice Bonnie Warkentin on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to one count of forgery and one count of uttering forged documents.

Voss was one of eight people charged in March 2023 following an investigation by the Thunder Bay Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police first launched in 2020.

Believed to be one of the largest art fraud rings in the world, investigators said at the time that more than 1,000 alleged Morrisseau fakes were seized and it is believed there are between 4,500 and 6,000 fakes created by several art fraud rings.

Morrisseau, also known as Copper Thunderbird, was from Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation. He gained international recognition for founding the Woodlands School of Art and his work has been exhibited in galleries across Canada, the United States and Europe.

In 1978, Morrisseau received the Order of Canada. He died in 2007.

Gary Lamont, who was responsible for one of the art fraud rings, has since pleaded guilty to one count of forgery and one count of defrauding the public above $5,000.

Lamont oversaw the production of 190 Morrisseau fakes and was sentenced last December to five years in custody. He has also pleaded guilty to several unrelated sexual assault charges.

The other individuals charged by police as part of the investigation include Benjamin Morrisseau, 53, Diane Marie Champagne, 63, Linda Tkachyk, 59, all from Thunder Bay, as well as Jeffrey Cowan, 47, of Niagara-on-the-Lake, James White, 81, of Essa Township, and David Bremner, 75, of Locust Hill.

All charges against Tkachyk were withdrawn following Lamont’s guilty plea. A hearing for Benjamin Morrisseau was held earlier this year and the matter will return next October to set a date for a potential resolution.

According to an agreed statement of facts read into the record on Tuesday, between 1996 and 2019 Voss produced or oversaw the production of between 1,500 and 2,000 fake Morrisseau paintings.

He also oversaw the distribution of the fraudulent works to galleries that in turn sold them to third party buyers. Hundreds of fake paintings have been seized by police but an unknown number are still believed to be outstanding.

The court heard Voss would draw outlines of the works using pencil and then add in a lettered, or ‘paint by number’ system for the colours to be used to fill in the spaces and complete the works.

Many of the Voss ring paintings were determined to be fakes through the detection of carbon markings under the paint consistent with pencil to complete the underdrawings and to denote the colours to be used.

Voss would also sign Morrisseau’s name using Anishinabek syllabics as he was known to do throughout his career.

The fraudulent paintings were sold to distributors and galleries in Thunder Bay, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Alberta.

The paintings were then sold to third party buyers. The prices of sold paintings ranged between $1,200 and $30,000.

A pair of buyers purchased seven fake paintings for a total of $110,000 in 2007.

A distributor in southern Ontario would take a 30 per cent commission on any sold paintings, while Voss received the balance of the proceeds.

Other forgeries created by the Voss ring have been displayed during exhibitions in Canada.

An explanation provided by Voss for how he came into possession of the Morrisseau works included receiving them from his father, who he claimed was a jail guard at the Kenora District Jail during a brief time Morrisseau was incarcerated there in the 1970s.

But Voss’s father never worked as a jail guard in Kenora and Voss never received any original Morrisseau paintings.

The matter has been adjourned to Sept. 5 for sentencing submissions.

The three southern Ontario men charged in connection with a fraudulent art ring made judicial pre-trail appearances in Ontario Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Facing direct indictment are Jeffrey Cowan, 47, of Niagara-on-the-Lake; James White, 81, of Essa Township; and David Bremner, 75, of the Markham area.

The three men are accused of making and selling fake paintings by Norval Morrisseau.

Their judicial pre-trial continues Aug. 8, 2024.

— With files from Bob Bruton