Police inundated with calls over art forgeries


Amid an ongoing police investigation of a Thessaloniki auction house for allegedly selling fake artworks, calls have flooded in from previous buyers, both domestic and international, willing to testify.

Heirs of Greek artists also claimed that seized artworks attributed to their relatives are forgeries.

On Monday, two of the three detained suspects, aged 70 and 62, were remanded in custody, while a 42-year-old woman was released with restrictions. All deny the charges.

The 70-year-old representative of the auction house said he believed the artworks were genuine and received a commission from sales. His lawyer insists on appointing technical experts to verify the artworks’ authenticity.

More than 2,100 artworks were confiscated, some allegedly attributed to renowned Greek artists such as Alekos Fassianos, Yannis Gaitis and Theophilos. An art historian initially deemed some works fake, with a couple by George Sikeliotis possibly genuine.

The raid, conducted a day before a planned auction, uncovered 123 pieces deemed fake by the National Gallery’s head of collections. Authorities seized over 800 artworks on Friday and another 400 on Saturday.


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