Counterfeiters specializing in contemporary art unmasked by "art cops"

Niki de Saint Phalle, Richard Orlinski, JonOne, Ernest Pignon-Ernest… Counterfeiters in the Paris region had daringly specialized in imitating these famous contemporary artists, whose price on the art market continues to grow in recent years.

The network has just been dismantled by investigators from the Central Office for the Repression of Cultural Property (OCBC) as part of an investigation opened by the prosecutor's office in Créteil (Val-de-Marne), in particular for "fraud" and “hidden work”.

Placed in custody after two waves of arrests in Paris in December and Monday, January 11, five men and women, aged 40 to 70, should soon appear before the criminal court.

The suspects have been left free pending trial.

The "art cops" suspect them of having copied at least thirty works by these sculptors, plastic artists or graphic designers of various currents, of "street art" or "pop art", and of having sold them as authentic to collectors and art lovers.

Thirty victims have been identified, but investigators do not exclude others from ignoring each other.

"We saw nothing but fire"

"For a neophyte, we saw that fire, says a source close to the investigation.

The suspects had issued false certificates of authenticity and had knowledge of the art world.

The alleged crooks resold the counterfeits up to 20,000 or 30,000 euros each.

There were the famous colorful sculptures by the visual artist Niki de Saint Phalle, the "pop" animals by Orlinski or the abstract graffiti by JonOne.

These modern and popular works, very popular, attract less attention than the masterpieces of past centuries and reach a wide audience.

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The network would have started its activities, undeclared, in 2000 in Paris and in Val-de-Marne and the judicial investigation was opened during the year 2018. Several of the five suspects, including a couple, were without official employment and were already known to the police for breach of trust, fraud and forgery already linked to the art market.

During the searches, many fraudulent works still unsold were seized by the investigators, who estimate the hidden gains of the network at more than 150,000 euros.