A United States businessman who sold $1 million (£794,470) worth of native Alaskan art that he had in fact ordered from the Philippines has been jailed for two years.
Cristobal “Cris” Magno Rodrigo, 59, from Washington state, received the longest sentence ever handed down by the courts for violating the 1935 Indian Arts and Crafts Act, which was intended to tackle fraud and misrepresentation.
According to the US attorney’s office in Alaska, Magno operated two companies in Alaska from April 2016 to December 2021.
Alaska Stone Arts sold carvings and Rail Creek wooden totem poles.
Marketed as native-made, they were in reality produced in the Philippines by a company set up by Magno’s wife.
Magno, who had worked in stores selling native art for two decades prior to the conspiracy, taught Philippine workers how to recreate the items.
To complete the illusion of authenticity, Magno hired native Alaskans to work at his stores in Ketchikan who sold the items as their own work.
He has also been ordered to donate $60,000 to the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and write a letter of apology to be published in the Ketchikan Daily Newspaper.
Prosecutors said Magno had raked in $1 million from the scam.
‘Cultural affront’
“The actions the defendant took to purposefully deceive customers and forge artwork is a cultural affront to Alaska native artisans who pride themselves on producing these historical works of art, and negatively affects those who make a living practising the craft,” said Lane Tucker, Alaska’s US attorney.
“Mr Rodrigo’s monumental sentence is a testament to the federal government’s dedication to prosecuting Indian Arts and Crafts Act violations, and the US attorney’s office will continue to work with law enforcement partners to protect Alaska native cultural heritage and unwitting customers and hold perpetrators accountable who carry out this type of fraud.”
Native art is seen as a key part of Alaska’s tourism industry, which is worth $4.5 billion a year to the state’s economy and there has been growing concern at the activities of fraudulent dealers.
The impact of the illegal trade is large, said Jacob Adams, a lawyer who has represented native Alaskan artists in civil cases.
“Allowing non-genuine products like that to be out there in the market, and essentially take over a lot of areas, it makes the environment that much more difficult for indigenous craftspeople to live off of their culture, and that causes many follow-on effects,” he told the Anchorage Daily News.
“If people are unable to make use of their culture, to live off their culture … then it disincentivises upcoming generations to pick up those crafts.”
