The six men (five Austrian, one Slovenian) were arrested in a hotel room near Vienna airport as they tried to pass off five Picasso paintings for 50 million euros ($55 million), police said. The buyer was in fact an undercover police officer.
Subsequent raids in homes and cars found 14 fakes complete with forged artists' signatures and counterfeit certificates of authenticity signed by Picasso's son. Police also recovered 66 other works purported to be by 40 famous artists including Claude Monet and Gustav Klimt at the home of the Slovenian suspect.
Apparently the men, now on bail, told police they believed the works were genuine.
I blinked as I read all this, both at the euros involved and the ham handed nature of it all. Pst, want to buy a Picasso?
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