Three people were arrested in northern Greece on suspicion of systematically creating and selling fake artworks by famous Greek artists. These forgeries were being sold through an online auction.
According to AP, citing Greek police, the arrests took place on Wednesday, just before the planned online sale of 123 paintings and sculptures. The auction was organized in the city of Thessaloniki.
An expert from the National Gallery of Greece analyzed the artworks and determined that all 123 pieces were forgeries. During searches at the auction house and four other locations, police seized over 800 works of art, the authenticity and origin of which are currently being investigated.
Preliminary estimates showed that the planned auction could have raised between 288,000 and 398,000 euros. Among the works for sale were pieces by popular 20th-century Greek artists: Yannis Gaitis, Nikos Hadjikiriakos-Gikas, and Alecos Fassianos, whose originals can be worth tens of thousands of euros.
On Friday, the suspects — two men, aged 70 and 62, and a 42-year-old woman — were charged with multiple counts of forgery and attempting to sell illegally obtained items.
