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German police bust gang that offered forged Picassos, Rembrandts
A 77-year-old German man and 10 accomplices face fraud charges after attempting to sell 20 forged masterpieces, including a Rembrandt copy valued at 120 million Swiss francs, police said.
- On October 24, 2025 Bavarian police announced they busted a plot to sell suspected forgeries attributed to Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso and Frida Kahlo, led by the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office.
- Investigators became suspicious when the main suspect, a 77-year-old German man, tried to sell two supposedly original Picassos, prompting synchronised dawn raids on Oct 15 across Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
- Investigators seized suspected art forgeries, documents, records, mobile phones, storage media and cloud data during searches in multiple locations, aided by a 74-year-old German man who prepared expert reports.
- He and another arrested man were arrested on the day of the raids and have since been conditionally released, while the main suspect and 10 accomplices face organised conspiracy fraud charges, prosecutors and investigators said.
- Police said the suspect sought 120 million Swiss francs for a forged De Staalmeesters, and all confiscated paintings will be examined in the coming weeks.
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Police in the German state of Bavaria have arrested several people on suspicion of trading in forged masterpieces. The suspects attempted to sell, among other things, a copy of Rembrandt van Rijn's masterpiece, The Syndics of the City of Amsterdam, while the original has been hanging in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam since 1885. A total of twenty artworks were seized, sold under the names of world-famous artists. Besides works by Rembrandt, the se…
·Netherlands
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German investigators have ensured suspected art falsifications – the traces also lead to Switzerland.
·Zürich, Switzerland
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Total News Sources12
Leaning Left4Leaning Right4Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution37% Left, 36% Right
Bias Distribution
- 37% of the sources lean Left, 36% of the sources lean Right
37% Left
L 37%
C 27%
R 36%
Factuality
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