European investigation dismantles criminal network forging thousands of fake artworks

By Giada Zampano

ROME (AA) - Thirty-eight people have been indicted following an international operation supported by Eurojust against a criminal network for forging over 2,000 fake works of contemporary art.

A year-and-a-half-long investigation by Italian authorities – in cooperation with Belgian, French and Spanish counterparts – led to the dismantling of the network, which would have caused economic damage estimated at €200 million ($212 million).

The fake art recovered by the authorities included forged works by famous artists such as Banksy, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Francis Bacon, Wassily Kandinsky, Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Salvador Dalí.

Investigations revealed a network of forgers based in Spain, France and Belgium. Once the fake pieces were produced, the network would work with several complicit auction houses in Italy to sell them, investigators said.

To ensure the credibility of the auctions, exhibitions were organized throughout Italy, with fake catalogs for the artworks. The forged pieces would have been auctioned off at prices close to the original works by the real artists.

The investigation began in March 2023, when Italian authorities found around 200 fake works of art during a search order against an entrepreneur. This led investigators to monitor the e-commerce platforms of auction houses to find similar works for sale and identify the sellers of these pieces.

Investigators identified two forgers and two painting workshops that were used to produce the fake works of art.

As the investigation uncovered a European forgery network, cross-border judicial cooperation was initiated at Eurojust and led to three investigation orders against six suspects in Spain, France and Belgium.

The searches led to the discovery of forgery workshops and the seizure of 1,000 fake art works and more than 500 forged certificates and stamps of authenticity. Thirty-eight suspects were indicted for conspiracy to forge and deal in contemporary art.

Experts working with the Italian authorities confirmed that the works of art were not originals and estimated the economic damage at approximately €200 million if the pieces had been auctioned.