Died on October 30, 2023 at the age of 93, he will not be able to answer for his actions.
The famous antiques dealer Jean Lupu, accused of having been at the head of an extraordinary fraud, will not be tried this Monday, February 12 by the Paris Criminal Court.
During his lifetime, the nonagenarian was suspected of having solicited, for several years, several members of the profession to manufacture and sell fake 18th century furniture.
Before his death caused the prosecution to be terminated, he was being prosecuted for “deception”, “organized money laundering” and “tax fraud laundering”.
His wife Monique, 92, will appear this Monday without her partner for having been an accomplice in this lucrative trade in fake furniture,
Le Figaro
learned from the Paris prosecutor's office.
But she will not be alone: the great-nephew of the renowned merchant, aged 52, is also being prosecuted for the same facts, the prosecution told us.
Jean Lupu did not appear at his trial last June.
His lawyer, Me Antoine Vey, had justified this absence by the mental degeneration of his client, citing an
“onset of Alzheimer’s”
.
The criminal lawyer then obtained a postponement of the hearing.
A forger’s workshop in the basement
The “crime” was concocted in the cozy atmosphere of Jean Lupu’s workshop, in the basement of his opulent gallery on Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Over the years, this autodidact had established a solid reputation as a finder of beautiful pieces.
So much so that his gallery had become an essential place for any lover of old furniture.
How could they have suspected that, right under their
Bexley soles,
a terrible plot was at play of which they were the dupe?
Because it is there, in the heart of the very chic 8th arrondissement of Paris, that Jean Lupu would have tampered with, tinkered with, falsified (some will say), adjusted, improved, perfected (others will say) Boulle chests of drawers, bronzes and everything a pile of marquetry furniture.
When the affair broke out, Jean Lupu defended himself to the press by arguing that it was “
restitution
” work.
A method that can be compared to restoration since it consists of carrying out historical research in order to identify missing elements from the piece of furniture and then add them.
The problem ?
Jean Lupu would not have sold them as “ restored
” furniture
, but as authentic pieces.
Worse: he would have copied bronzes, imitating the style of the king's cabinetmaker, André-Charles Boulle.
The grand-nephew of the antique dealer, the keystone of this affair?
And the specialist in 18th century furniture would not have worked alone.
He would have been the conductor of a whole group of cabinetmakers, gilders, carvers, founders, marble workers and sculptors.
An impeccable shock team, at first glance.
All of them would have worked with complete impunity to manufacture counterfeits intended for wealthy buyers from Russia, the United States and the Emirates.
A formidable machine which would have worked wonderfully until the day when, in 2014, when Jean Lupu had retired, the art dealer was denounced by one of his colleagues.
According to FranceInfo, his workshop was then searched and the investigators discovered, stunned, several stamps in the name of great master cabinetmakers.
“It’s not happy for the profession”
A member of the National Union of Antique Dealers
“It’s not happy for the profession”
The affair shook up the art market, which was hit hard, as well as the discreet circle of collectors of antique furniture.
This is why the National Union of Antiques Dealers, the National Company of Experts (of which Jean Lupu was a member), the company Nectar Art LTD and the Fondation Grandir pour l'Art and a few individuals have become civil parties, told Le
Figaro
a source close to the file.
“It's not good for the profession
,” a member of the National Union of Antique Dealers tells us, without wishing to elaborate further.
The trial which will open this Monday could also allow us to find out more about the role of the antique dealer's great-nephew.
The defendant is suspected of having lent a hand to his great-uncle shortly after the outbreak of the Panama Papers scandal: according to our colleagues from Le
Parisien
, the fifty-year-old went to recover the usufruct of these scams (the modest sum of 6 million euros) in 2018, thanks to the support of a Swiss law firm.
Still according to the daily, at the request of his great-uncle, the nephew's mission was to transfer this small fortune to a bank in Qatar.
But the crook himself would have been defrauded by his cousin's son: the latter would have squandered the money on luxury outfits and trips.
Could the great-nephew be the keystone of this complicated business?
Contacted by
Le Figaro
, Me Antoine Vey did not respond to our requests.