BIRMINGHAM, Mich. – A former art dealer from Birmingham admitted that she sold more than $1.5 million worth of photographs, kept the profits for herself, and told the artists she had extremely severe health issues when they asked her about the sales.
FBI agents searched the home of Wendy Halstead Beard, 58, on Oct. 14, 2022. They said they found more than 100 rare fine art photographs with a combined estimated value of around $1.6 million.
Officials said those photographs had been consigned to Beard, which means agreed to sell them and pay the owners afterward. But instead, she sold the artwork without the owners’ knowledge and kept the profits for herself, according to authorities.
From March 2019 through October 2022, Beard continually lied to artists who had trusted her to sell their photos. She made excuses for her inability to return the photographs to the owners, even claiming she had recently been in a coma or that she had received a double lung transplant.
Sometimes, Beard would tell artists that there wasn’t any interest from buyers, even though she had already sold their photographs.
“This defendant swindled numerous families out of valuable artwork and lied to them repeatedly in order to keep her fraud scheme afloat,” United States Attorney Dawn Ison said. “She did this for no reason other than to line her own pockets at the expense of her victims.
Officials said Beard created fake “employee” identities to further fool the artists.
On Thursday, July 13, 2023, federal authorities announced Beard pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. As part of the plea agreement, Beard acknowledged that she defrauded more than 10 of her customers, including at least one who was vulnerable due to age.
The photos she sold as part of the scheme were worth at least a combined $1.5 million, according to authorities.
“With today’s plea, Ms. Beard has taken a first step towards accepting responsibility for her criminal behavior,” said Devin Kowalski, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office.
Beard is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12.
