Toy boy husband wanted for murder of millionaire NYC art gallery owner, 75, who was found stabbed to death in his Brazil home is arrested in New York on passport fraud charges

The husband of the late New York City art gallery owner Brent Sikkema has been arrested on passport fraud charges. 

Daniel Sikkema, who is also wanted in Brazil for the January 14 murder of Brent Sikkema, was arrested Wednesday by federal officials in New York. 

A court document filed by the FBI agent in charge of the investigation found Daniel Sikkema 'willfully and knowingly' lied on an application for a lost passport he submitted for the couple's son.

The application was submitted around February 8, three weeks after the prominent art gallery owner was stabbed dead at his Rio de Janeiro home by suspect Alejandro Triana.

Triana was arrested on January 15 and confessed to the killing, telling investigators that Daniel Sikkema had offered to pay him $200,000 to carry out the murder.

An official with the Southern District of New York told DailyMail.com that Daniel Sikkema was awaiting to be released with a GPS ankle monitor. 

Daniel Sikkema (left), husband of the late New York City art gallery owner Brent Sikkema (right), was arrested Wednesday in New York on a passport fraud charge. He was expected to be released on bail on Thursday and has to wear a GPS monitor at all times. Brazilian authorities have accused Daniel Sikkema for the January 14 murder of Brent Sikkema

Alejandro Triana, of Cuba, told Rio de Janeiro authorities that he was offered $200,000 by Daniel Sikkema to murder his husband inside a Brazil townhome

Daniel Sikkema and Brent Sikkema initiated custody proceedings in May 2023 for their 13-year-old son and in January began to go over their divorce settlement. 

As part of the custody agreement, Brent Sikkema, had possession of the boy's Spanish and American passports.

On January 21, Daniel Sikkema's lawyer visited the apartment of Brent Sikkema and was denied access by the building management. 

Daniel's lawyer called the executor of the art gallery owner's estate and asked for permission to enter the premises to retrieve the travel documents. The lawyer was informed by the executor that he had custody of the passports and placed them in a safe in the apartment, declining to turn them over.

Five days later, Daniel Sikkema emailed the executor to say that he needed the boy's expired Spanish passport.

'I have to order the new passport and as a requirement I have to deliver the expired one,' Daniel Sikkema wrote, according to court documents. 

New York City art gallery owner Brent Sikkema with former First Lady Michelle Obama

Daniel Sikkema (left) and the late Brent Sikkema (right) 

He added  he also need the boy's American passport because they had were going to travel overseas.

Once Brazilian authorities charged David Sikkema for the murder of Brent Sikkema, the executor appeared before the Family Court of the State of New York on February 15 and requested the custody of the boy, indicating that he feared David Sikkema would flee with the boy to Cuba. 

The petition was dismissed by the court on March 5.

The executor removed the passports from the safe later in February and turned them over to Daniel Sikkema's lawyer on March 14.

However, the FBI learned that Daniel Sikkema filed an application for a United States passport and provided a statement for a lost or stolen passport on behalf of his son on February 8.

In the statement, Daniel Sikkema claimed the boy had lost his American passport book while on vacation with his 'other father' in Europe in August 2023.

The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police and Public Ministry have filed an order with the state's court seeking Daniel Sikkema's arrest and reached out to the United States Department of Justice. 

Triana told Brazilian law enforcement that Daniel Sikkema did not agree with the amount of money that he was offered in the divorce settlement and that he was worried that Brent Sikkema's relationship with 'an Uruguayan or a Paraguayan' man would possibly dictate how the couple's assets would be split. 

Surveillance camera footage obtained by DailyMail.com from Gabriel Security Company showed that Triana began monitoring Brent Sikkema's home in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Jardim Botânico around 2:30 pm January 13.

Triana met the couple in Cuba and worked for them as a handyman at their properties in the communist island. He told investigators that Daniel Sikkema was also upset over Brent Sikkema spending 'a lot of money on drugs, parties and prostitutes.'

Surveillance camera footage obtained by DailyMail.com from Gabriel Security Company showed that Triana began monitoring Brent Sikkema's home in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Jardim Botânico around 2:30 pm January 13.

He walked into the residence on January 14 at 3:43am with a key that Daniel Sikkema allegedly mailed him from the United States.

Triana could be seen exiting the home at 3:47am and removing gloves before he drove away.

The autopsy showed Brent Sikkema was stabbed 18 times, mostly in the neck and chest. 

Triana was arrested January 15 after police found him sleeping in a car in Ureaba, a city in the southern state of Minas Gerais, which borders Bolivia.