Spain police arrest 9 on suspicion of creating and selling fake art including Picasso, Warhol

MADRID – Spanish police have broken up a gang that allegedly created and then sold fake works of art purporting to be by renowned artists including Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Joan Miro.

Officers have arrested nine suspects in the eastern region of Valencia, including the alleged counterfeiters and intermediaries involved in selling the fakes online and through galleries, an Interior Ministry statement says.

The investigation began following a complaint that art objects had been stolen from a house in the eastern city of Denia.

Police proceeded to search seven addresses and seized 271 works, including canvasses, sculptures and documents to be used in the falsification of the art’s provenance.

Saturday’s statement says the alleged counterfeiters were three brothers and a couple, who had all been faking art for seven years.