Palm Beach gallery reopens but no word why it was raided by FBI, IRS

Rachida Harper Skinner, Darrell Hofheinz and Carol Rose, Palm Beach Daily News
·2 min read
The yellow Rolls-Royce driven by gallery owner Daniel Bouaziz is parked in front of Galerie Danieli on Worth Avenue on Tuesday.
The yellow Rolls-Royce driven by gallery owner Daniel Bouaziz is parked in front of Galerie Danieli on Worth Avenue on Tuesday.

Almost a week after FBI and IRS criminal investigation agents raided Danieli Fine Art and Galerie Danieli on Worth Avenue, in Palm Beach the store is open and welcoming customers.

There is still no official word on why the raid was carried out.

Gallery president Daniel Bouaziz listens to his phone on Tuesday on Worth Avenue.
Gallery president Daniel Bouaziz listens to his phone on Tuesday on Worth Avenue.

The door of Danieli Fine Art was propped open Tuesday for customers to walk in, but a Daily News reporter who visited was escorted out by gallery president Daniel Bouaziz. He refused to answer any questions.

Avenue raid: Federal agents raid Worth Avenue gallery in Palm Beach

Beginning at around 8 a.m. Wednesday, Palm Beach Police officers blocked off the left lane of the road, across from the gallery at 226A Worth Ave. Galerie Danieli, a showroom, is two storefronts down at 230 Worth Ave.

The FBI was confirmed to be on the scene to conduct “court-ordered law enforcement activity,” FBI public affairs specialist James Marshall said last week. “There is no threat to public safety. No further information is available at this time,” he wrote in an email.

Government agents surround Galerie Danieli on Dec. 15. The FBI has not announced why the business was raided.
Government agents surround Galerie Danieli on Dec. 15. The FBI has not announced why the business was raided.

Marshall has not responded to follow-up emails about the incident.

Palm Beach Police spokesman Capt. William Rothrock said in an email Monday that the department "has no personnel on the scene in the area of Worth Avenue related to the court-ordered activity involving federal law enforcement last week."

Workers at the Charlotte Kellogg, which sits between the gallery and the showroom, had no comment about the incident. Employees from another neighboring tenant told the Daily News that law enforcement officers were stationed in front of the gallery for 48 hours from the time they arrived Wednesday morning.

Bouaziz, a businessman and real estate investor, told the Palm Beach Daily News in 2017 that he was a seasonal resident of Palm Beach and a semi-retired French-Israeli opera singer who performed under the name Danieli.

In late 2016, he opened a sprawling art center named Danieli ArtWorld Gallery in West Palm Beach in a warehouse-style complex he owned at 925 N. Railroad Ave., a few blocks south of the Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard railroad overpass. The complex was sold in June 2020, courthouse records show.

Bouaziz had renovated the complex to house his art collection, sell art and provide studios for artists, he told the newspaper.

Government agents from the FBI can be seen Dec. 16 outside Danieli Fine Art.
Government agents from the FBI can be seen Dec. 16 outside Danieli Fine Art.

“We've built a huge place here,” he said in May 2017, when the center was open by appointment only. “It's about 120,000 square feet with 40,000 square feet of gallery space. I want to promote my art and young artists — and bring something new to the community.”

His move to Worth Avenue apparently occurred last year, when he rented space at 226A Worth Ave. for Danieli Fine Art. That space was followed this year by Galerie Danieli at 230 Worth Ave.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach gallery Galerie Danieli raided by FBI, IRS has reopened