Daily Voice
By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice
A former Hill School admissions director and neighbor of pop icon Taylor Swift pleaded guilty to selling fake artwork he falsely claimed was created by some of the world’s most legendary artists, federal authorities announced on Tuesday, June 3.
Carter P. Reese, 77, of Reading, admitted in federal court on Thursday, May 29, to wire fraud and mail fraud for a two-year scheme that duped customers into buying forged works he said came from Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and others, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Once respected for his work in education and as a fine arts collector, Reese built his life around elite institutions. He held three master’s degrees, taught art and history, and once led admissions at the prestigious Hill School in Pottstown. With his Harvard-educated wife, he co-founded a successful international education consulting firm and previously owned the Wyomissing home where Swift once lived with her family—an address believed to have inspired her earliest music.
In 2017, one of his homes hit the market for nearly $2 million.
But by 2019, he had financial troubles, and prosecutors say that's when Reese started selling fakes. He told buyers the pieces came from deceased collectors or an elusive man named “Ken James.” In reality, the art came from a convicted forger in Chicago who had once been caught selling counterfeit pieces on eBay.
Reese even used false affidavits and forged artist signatures to trick buyers into believing the works were real. When at least one buyer warned him the art was fraudulent and his supplier had a criminal history, Reese kept selling the pieces anyway.
Court documents show Reese made sales or investments based on fake works by Picasso, Warhol, Basquiat, Cocteau, Haring, and others between August 2019 and February 2021. In one instance, he mailed a notarized affidavit from Berks County falsely certifying the art’s authenticity.
Despite telling the court he regrets his actions, Reese could be forced to forfeit more than $186,000 and faces up to 40 years in prison when sentenced on Sept. 12.
Ironically, in 2019, Reese claimed in bankruptcy court that he had once been the victim of a scam—saying that dishonest antiques sellers sabotaged a major sale of his prized 17,000-piece collection, which he valued at over $6 million. Among the alleged deceptions: showcasing a toy house he’d unknowingly purchased for $20,000 that turned out to be a replica.