"Until recently, there was no specific legislation addressing the forgery of artworks and collectibles. Instead, these cases fell under the 'smoother' general provisions of the criminal code concerning fraud and forgery, which required proof of a financial transaction in order for an offence to be established."
A painting determined to be the work of "genius forger" Wolfgang Beltracchi in Japan's Tokushima Modern Art Museum, it was returned and refunded for 67.2 million yen ($426,000) by an Osaka-based company on Wednesday, November 19, reported the . The museum had announced that it would withdraw the canvas from an upcoming exhibition, following suspicions that it was a Beltracchi fake.
German police say they've broken up an international art forgery ring that tried to sell works purportedly by Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Frida Kahlo and others for tens of millions of dollars to unsuspecting collectors. The scheme was allegedly led by a 77-year-old German man from Bavaria with the help of ten accomplices, according to a press release from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office.
