Greece’s Cultural Heritage and Antiquities Protection Department has uncovered an art forgery ring operating in Thessaloniki, seizing 123 counterfeit paintings that were set to be sold in an online auction.
The forgers planned to auction the fake works—attributed to renowned Greek painters—under the title “39th Greek Art.” The operation was expected to generate between €300,000 and €400,000 in illicit profits.
The Raid and Arrests
Following a tip-off, authorities enlisted the National Gallery’s Collections Department to review the auction catalog and verify the authenticity of the advertised works.
The replicas included pieces falsely attributed to prominent deceased Greek artists, such as Alekos Fassianos, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Dimitris Mytaras, Konstantinos Parthenis, Panayiotis Tetsis, Yiannis Gaitis, Dimitris Tiniakos, Yiannis Tsarouchis, Yiannis Spyropoulos, Giorgos Sikeliotis, Dora Bouki, and Giorgos Syrigos, among others.
After confirming the paintings were forgeries, officers from the Cultural Heritage and Antiquities Protection Department, part of the Police’s Subdirectorate for Combating Trafficking and Smuggling, conducted a raid on a “gallery” in Thessaloniki and nearby storage facilities on the eve of the auction.
On Wednesday, December 4, a follow-up raid targeted the auction house itself, where all 123 forged pieces listed for sale were identified and confiscated. The artworks had been misrepresented as genuine pieces by various artists.
Three individuals have been arrested so far, including a 70-year-old man, a 42-year-old woman (a close relative of the former), and a 62-year-old man.
Ongoing Investigations
Authorities continued their investigations into a second day, uncovering additional artworks whose authenticity and provenance are being scrutinized.
In addition to the gallery, three workshops producing forged paintings linked to the two male suspects were discovered.
Parallel Art Forgery Bust in Italy
Last month, Italian authorities dismantled a major European criminal network engaged in forging and selling artworks attributed to iconic modern artists.
More than 2,100 forged pieces were recovered in the operation, including works falsely attributed to Banksy, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso.
A total of 38 individuals were arrested, with the forged artworks valued at an estimated €200 million (£165 million; $213 million).
Investigators uncovered six forgery workshops—two in Tuscany, one in Venice, and others across Europe. The suspects face charges of conspiracy, forgery, handling stolen goods, and illegal sales of artworks, according to a joint statement by the Carabinieri cultural heritage unit and the Pisa prosecutor’s office.
The investigation began in 2023 after authorities seized approximately 200 counterfeit pieces from a businessman in Pisa, including a forged drawing attributed to Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani.
