Authorities seize 480 fake paintings, including works attibuted to famous Greek painters

Two men, aged 42 and 57 — one of whom is a lawyer — were arrested on Tuesday morning as part of a preliminary investigation into dealings involving a large number of forged paintings. The 57-year-old lawyer also faces additional charges for violating firearms legislation.

In an operation carried out by the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Antiquities of the Anti-Trafficking and Anti-Smuggling Sub-Directorate, searches were conducted — in the presence of judicial officials — at the suspects’ homes and in additional locations. Οfficers found and seized 481 artworks and paintings, two documents purporting to be certificates of authenticity, four pistols and six magazines, 370 rounds of various calibres, five pistol holsters, two mobile phones, a recording device, and a monitor with a memory card.

According to an expert report, the majority of the paintings were determined to be fake. Among them were counterfeit works attributed to painter Konstantinos Parthenis, whose genuine works have been officially designated as monuments of modern cultural heritage.

The seized paintings are linked to the large forgery ring dismantled last June, involving more than 200 fake works by Greek and foreign artists. That case file included 14 suspects.

The expert appointed by the police noted strong similarities between the certificates accompanying the seized paintings and those he had examined in last June’s case, as well as similarities in the artistic technique used in the forged paintings.

The two fraudsters had taken €300,000 from their victim for the supposed purchase of a gold bar — which turned out to be fake — and later gave him 439 paintings, including supposedly authentic works by Parthenis. When he eventually realised these too were forgeries, he reported the matter to the authorities, leading investigators to the suspects.

The arrested men were taken before the competent prosecutor.