Italian police have uncovered a large-scale European forgery ring that produced and sold works of art attributed to some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art, including Banksy, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol.
Some 38 people have been placed under investigation in Italy, Spain, France and Belgium on suspicion of conspiracy to deal with stolen goods, forgery and the illegal sale of works of art, the Carabinieri art squad and the Pisa prosecutor’s office said in a statement. joint statement this Monday (11).
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Pisa’s chief prosecutor, Teresa Angela Camelio, said experts from the Banksy archive who helped with the investigation considered the operation to be “the greatest act of protection of Banksy’s work.”
Pest Control, the firm representing the artist, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On its website, the office says that counterfeiting is common and asks people who want to buy any Banksy pieces to be wary of “expensive fakes.”
Investigators said they seized more than 2,100 fake pieces with a potential market value of around 200 million euros ($215 million) and discovered six counterfeiting workshops, including two in Tuscany, one in Venice and the rest in others. parts of Europe.
They said the investigation began in 2023, when they seized around 200 fake pieces from a businessman’s collection in Pisa, including a copy of a drawing by Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani.
This led them to forgeries being sold by auction houses across Italy and connecting them to a well-known group believed to specialize in Banksy and Warhol forgeries.
To boost their credentials, the unidentified suspects organized two Banksy exhibitions with a published catalog at prestigious venues in Mestre, near Venice, and Cortona in Tuscany, according to investigators.
This content was originally published in Italian police dismantle art forgery network on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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