German police seize fake Picassos in multi-million euro counterfeiting raid

Bavarian police have seized millions of euros worth of fake art they claim shows works by Picasso, Rembrandt and Kahlo in an operation spanning Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Authorities in Bavaria said the main suspect, a 77-year-old German man, is facing conspiracy and fraud charges along with 10 alleged accomplices.

Investigators first became suspicious when a septuagenarian ringleader tried to sell two alleged original Picasso paintings on the art market.

He then wanted to sell Dutch old master Rembrandt’s famous oil painting De Staalmeisters for 120 million Swiss francs (£113m), despite the original hanging in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (BLKA) said the fake De Stahlmeisters – sometimes referred to as the Masters of the Clothmakers Guild – was owned by an 84-year-old Swiss woman.

She is now being investigated by the Amberg Public Prosecutor’s Office, BLKA and Swiss authorities after the fake piece was seized in Switzerland.

At the time, after being examined by an art expert, police said: “It was, as suspected, not a lost masterpiece by Rembrandt van Rijn, but a copy.”

The painting was seized on Wednesday October 15 during a coordinated series of dawn raids in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

During the search, a large number of suspected art forgeries were found and seized, including “documents, records, mobile phones, storage media and cloud data”, BLKA said.

Bavarian police said the main suspect tried to sell another 19 fake works, allegedly by world-renowned artists, for between €400,000 (£349,000) and €14m (£12.2m).

They included copies of works by Mexican painter Frida Kahlo as well as works by Flemish Old Master Peter Paul Rubens, Italian sculptor Amedeo Modigliani and Spain’s Joan Miró.

He was assisted by a 74-year-old German man who “specially prepared expert reports to confirm the authenticity of the artefacts”.

BLKA said he and the main suspect were arrested on the day of the raid before being released on parole.

Police said the investigation is on.

“Among other things, all seized paintings will be examined in detail by experts and appraisers in the coming weeks,” the police said.