German police have busted a group of forgers who tried to sell copies of paintings for nearly 550 million!

German police have announced the dismantling of an international criminal group that tried to sell fake works of art for enormous sums.

As we read on the German police website, a multi-person investigative group of the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, codenamed "Dora Maar" after the work of Pablo Picasso , has been investigating a 77-year-old German citizen and his ten accomplices since the beginning of the year, who are suspected of forgery and art trafficking .

A man was arrested after attempting to sell two forgeries of Picasso works. Hence the group's codename. These actions resulted in searches in Schwandorf , Erlangen , Wissen , Dresden , Munich , Bad Harzburg , Stuttgart , Berlin , Teisendorf , Cham , and Potsdam .

German police have busted a forgery ring that tried to sell fake works of art for exorbitant sums. Photo: Josh Liu / Unsplash

In this way, numerous pieces of evidence were secured, such as mobile phones , documents , data carriers and most likely fake works of art.

Officers were able to establish that the suspect also attempted to sell Rembrandt's famous painting "The Syndics of the Drapers' Guild" for 120 million Swiss francs, or 548 million złoty. There's just one problem... The original has been part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam for many years.

The work offered by the suspect was a copy, likely created in the 20th century. The work was in the possession of an 84-year-old Swiss citizen , who was also under investigation by local law enforcement.

Rembrandt, Syndics of the Drapers' Guild, 1662. Photo: Google Arts & Culture / Wikimedia Commons / CC0 (Public domain)

As we read in a police press release, the suspects tried to convince potential buyers that the painting at the Rijksmuseum was a copy.

The prime suspect attempted to sell 19 other copies of paintings by artists such as Rembrandt , Rubens , Pablo Picasso , Anthonis van Dyck , Joan Miró , Amedeo Modigliani , and Frida Kahlo . Admittedly, he went for the high end. Individual works were offered for sale at prices ranging from €400,000 to €14 million.

Among the suspect’s assistants was a 74-year-old man who prepared false expert opinions confirming the authenticity of alleged works of art.

The investigation is still ongoing, and all seized paintings are to be examined by appraisers and art market experts.