A disgraced Florida art dealer indicted for allegedly selling fake Andy Warhol paintings is now trying his hand at peddling Labubu figurines while out on bond.
Leslie Roberts, 62, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering in April after police claimed he knowingly sold counterfeit works to collectors.
It was not the dealer’s first run-in with the law. Nearly 40 years ago, Roberts was sentenced to 15 years in prison for defrauding a family member of millions of dollars while working as a stockbroker.
In 2015, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and admitted defrauding customers by selling forged paintings.
Among his bond conditions this time around, Roberts, who wears a toupee, agreed to have no involvement in the art industry when he was released in April.
He has since launched Labubu Headquarters, a gift shop in the Coconut Grove, Miami. It sits about 400 feet from his art gallery which was raided by the FBI earlier this year, according to the Miami New Times.
Among his collection is a range of the furry figurines starting at $35, and the store even boasts a large Labubu on sale for $1,000, the Art Newspaper reported.
However, considering Roberts’s previous alleged endeavors, some observers have questioned the legitimacy of the toys in the store.
Disgraced art dealer Leslie Roberts, 62, started selling Labubus after being indicted for fraud
A customer purchases a furry figurine at Roberts’s store in Miami, called Labubu Headquarters
If convicted, Roberts, who wears a toupee, faces up to 30 years in federal prison after police alleged he sold fake Warhol works
The collectible furry dolls, which are elf-like with exaggerated facial expressions, have become sought-after worldwide in the past year.
Since the figurines’ popularity has grown, fake Labubus, known as ‘Lafufus,’ have been sold on the market.
Pop Mart, the official seller of Labubus, said Roberts’s store was not affiliated with the company.
‘We advise fans of Labubu and the Monsters to purchase only through Pop Mart’s official sales channels and approved partner,’ a spokesman told the Miami New Times.
The newspaper conducted an investigation into Roberts’s new products, purchasing a Labubu from his store for $101, noting that Pop Mart sold the same item for $28.
A scan of a QR code said that the product was genuine. The stitching, teeth count and packaging checked out for the furry beige Soymilk Labubu.
But fans claimed that the coloring and facial construction of the figurine did not seem right in pictures.
Reddit users pointed to inconsistencies they said were a ‘dead giveaway’ that the figurine was fake, and a Labubu expert told the newspaper that the doll ‘looks like s***.’
Labubu keychains on display for sale in Las Vegas. The craze has taken over America
Roberts was released on a $250,000 bail in April and instructed not to work within the art industry as part of his surety bond conditions
Labubu dolls in various outfits are displayed inside an official Pop Mart store
However, there has been no determination that the contents of Roberts’s store are not legitimate.
A user on Instagram commented that one of Roberts’s products looked like a ‘Lafufu’ but the Labubu Headquarters account responded, saying: ‘We only work with 100 percent authentic Labubus, sourced directly from Pop Mart.
‘We came across your profile and noticed that you also resell Labubus, and we truly respect your work. This is not about competition, there’s room for everyone who loves collecting these little monsters. We’re grateful for the amazing support we’ve received from our wonderful clients and friends, and we sincerely wish you the same success.’
The Labubu Headquarters Instagram account has posts dating back to August 10, with 54 followers as of Friday.
It posts about stock supplies and new products, as well as ‘Labubu parties’ and pictures of customers posing with the figurines at the store.
A pending civil suit filed in 2024, which led to Roberts’s indictment, claimed he duped a family into buying fake Warhols.
At the time this was filed, Roberts, speaking to The New York Times, vehemently denied the lawsuit’s version of events.
One of his lawyers, Jonathan Marc Davidoff, said in a statement that ‘we intend to vigorously defend against the baseless and misleading allegations in the complaint.’
According to allegations in the indictment, Roberts falsely claimed to victims that he acquired artwork from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and provided fake invoices.
He was accused of forging stamps and identification numbers to make the paintings appear legitimate, according to court documents viewed by the Daily Mail.
On April 9, video showed FBI agents raiding the nearby Miami Fine Art Gallery, which is owned by Roberts, and taking away materials in cardboard boxes.
A civil suit filed in 2024, which led to his indictment, claimed that a family was duped by Roberts into buying fake Warhols, including this portrait of Queen Elizabeth
Miami Fine Art Gallery, owned by Roberts, was raided by the FBI last year
Carlos Miguel Rodriguez Melendez, 37, was also named in the partially redacted court documents for participation in the wire fraud conspiracy.
Melendez falsely represented that he was an employee of a New York auction company to fraudulently authenticate the artwork, according to the indictment. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in June.
The filing alleged that Roberts also laundered money and fraudulently made wire transfers from his Miami Fine Art Gallery bank account to his personal account.
Roberts allegedly made transactions of $150,000, $40,000 and $50,000, according to a release from the Southern Florida District Attorney.
On the day of his indictment, he filed for bankruptcy.
Both Roberts and Melendez were released on bond before their arraignment on April 21.
Roberts remains out on a $250,000 bond surety, co-signed by his ex-wife, Silvia Castro Roberts.
Roberts previously served prison time for defrauding a family member while working as a stockbroker in 1987 and mail fraud related to forged paintings in 2015
Melendez faces up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced.
Roberts, if convicted of both wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering, is looking at up to 30 years behind bars.
Roberts’s next appearance in court is set for January 14, 2026, according to online records.
In 1987, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for defrauding a family member of millions of dollars while working as a stockbroker.
In 2015, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and told prosecutors that he had defrauded customers by selling forged paintings, the New York Times reported.
Roberts told the news outlet last August: ‘I don’t believe anything was a forgery – everything looked good to me. I don’t know where the authority is they say it’s fake.
‘I try to be more cautious than ever because of my past.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Roberts’s lawyer, Jason Wander, Melendez’s lawyer, Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman, and Pop Mart for comment.
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