FundSvcs Community

All,

We recently became aware that a piece of artwork we accepted as a GIK back in 2003 is most likely a forgery. If it is indeed verified as inauthentic, I'm curious as to what, if anything, we need to do from an IRS perspective.

Of course, this happening back in 2003 (long before I got here), this has been a bit of an exercise in documentation archeology. Here's what I was able to find:

• We did (I think) issue a GIK receipt to the donor. I do not have a copy of the receipt, but I was unable to unearth an email that referenced a receipt (without value) was sent. It does not, however, say what the receipt said. I'm not sure if it just said "art" or it was (correctly) specific (e.g. containing the artists, work name, year, medium, description, etc...).
• I was able to find a copy of the 8283 we signed which does specifically reference the work as "<ARTIST> <ART TYPE> <WORK NAME>"
• I was able to find an appraisal we were provided which describes the work as "<ARTIST> <WORK NAME> <MEDIUM> <SIZE>".

I realize that this is mostly the donor's problem, but are there any correcting documents we need to be issuing to the donor or the IRS? For instance, I know that our signature on the 8283 only signifies that we physically received the item listed, not agreement with the value the donor is claiming. That said, if we signed an 8283 that said we received <WORK NAME> by <ARTIST>, but we now know it was not by <ARTIST>, is there anything we need to do to amend that? Same goes for the receipt.

Of course we're going to discuss this with council, a meeting is being set up as I speak, but I'd like to have a little more industry knowledge going into that meeting, and would appreciate insight from anyone who's dealt with this before.

Thanks.

Sean



------------------------------
Sean Shappell
Asst. Vice President, Information Services
Lehigh University
ses211@lehigh.edu
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11/1/2022 2:26:00 PM
From: Sean Shappell
Subject: Forged Artwork

All,

We recently became aware that a piece of artwork we accepted as a GIK back in 2003 is most likely a forgery. If it is indeed verified as inauthentic, I'm curious as to what, if anything, we need to do from an IRS perspective.

Of course, this happening back in 2003 (long before I got here), this has been a bit of an exercise in documentation archeology. Here's what I was able to find:

• We did (I think) issue a GIK receipt to the donor. I do not have a copy of the receipt, but I was unable to unearth an email that referenced a receipt (without value) was sent. It does not, however, say what the receipt said. I'm not sure if it just said "art" or it was (correctly) specific (e.g. containing the artists, work name, year, medium, description, etc...).
• I was able to find a copy of the 8283 we signed which does specifically reference the work as "<ARTIST> <ART TYPE> <WORK NAME>"
• I was able to find an appraisal we were provided which describes the work as "<ARTIST> <WORK NAME> <MEDIUM> <SIZE>".

I realize that this is mostly the donor's problem, but are there any correcting documents we need to be issuing to the donor or the IRS? For instance, I know that our signature on the 8283 only signifies that we physically received the item listed, not agreement with the value the donor is claiming. That said, if we signed an 8283 that said we received <WORK NAME> by <ARTIST>, but we now know it was not by <ARTIST>, is there anything we need to do to amend that? Same goes for the receipt.

Of course we're going to discuss this with council, a meeting is being set up as I speak, but I'd like to have a little more industry knowledge going into that meeting, and would appreciate insight from anyone who's dealt with this before.

Thanks.

Sean



------------------------------
Sean Shappell
Asst. Vice President, Information Services
Lehigh University
ses211@lehigh.edu
------------------------------

Thanks John!

------------------------------
Sean Shappell
Asst. Vice President, Information Services
Lehigh University
ses211@lehigh.edu
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 11-01-2022 01:41 PM
From: John Taylor
Subject: Forged Artwork

Sean, your signature only signifies you received what the donor - and their appraiser - told you that you were getting.  Your signature does not certify validation or certification of the authenticity of the donor/appraiser statements.  Therefore, you can take a deep breath and relax.

Of course, if the donor and appraiser knew the art was fake when they submitted the 8283, they would have also committed tax fraud.

John

John H. Taylor

Principal

John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC

2604 Sevier St.

Durham, NC   27705

johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com

919.816.5903 (cell/text)

Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987

Original Message:
Sent: 11/1/2022 2:26:00 PM
From: Sean Shappell
Subject: Forged Artwork

All,

We recently became aware that a piece of artwork we accepted as a GIK back in 2003 is most likely a forgery. If it is indeed verified as inauthentic, I'm curious as to what, if anything, we need to do from an IRS perspective.

Of course, this happening back in 2003 (long before I got here), this has been a bit of an exercise in documentation archeology. Here's what I was able to find:

• We did (I think) issue a GIK receipt to the donor. I do not have a copy of the receipt, but I was unable to unearth an email that referenced a receipt (without value) was sent. It does not, however, say what the receipt said. I'm not sure if it just said "art" or it was (correctly) specific (e.g. containing the artists, work name, year, medium, description, etc...).
• I was able to find a copy of the 8283 we signed which does specifically reference the work as "<ARTIST> <ART TYPE> <WORK NAME>"
• I was able to find an appraisal we were provided which describes the work as "<ARTIST> <WORK NAME> <MEDIUM> <SIZE>".

I realize that this is mostly the donor's problem, but are there any correcting documents we need to be issuing to the donor or the IRS? For instance, I know that our signature on the 8283 only signifies that we physically received the item listed, not agreement with the value the donor is claiming. That said, if we signed an 8283 that said we received <WORK NAME> by <ARTIST>, but we now know it was not by <ARTIST>, is there anything we need to do to amend that? Same goes for the receipt.

Of course we're going to discuss this with council, a meeting is being set up as I speak, but I'd like to have a little more industry knowledge going into that meeting, and would appreciate insight from anyone who's dealt with this before.

Thanks.

Sean



------------------------------
Sean Shappell
Asst. Vice President, Information Services
Lehigh University
ses211@lehigh.edu
------------------------------