At the beginning of this year, the Historical Heritage Group of the Generalitat Police in Valencia, Spain targeted a group of people suspected of a large-scale art fraud.
Now, five paintings have been secured in Valencia, four of which are said to be by Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) and another by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), announced Gabriela Bravo, Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration, in a press conference on April 11. Four suspects have been questioned about the case but have not yet been arrested, CNN reports.
Related: The 5 Most Notorious Art Forgers
The suspects, who also offered the counterfeit paintings with counterfeit papers and certificates, wanted to sell the trove for €76 million ($84 million). The bulk of that sum, €50 million, was for the fake Velázquez, a copy of his famous portrait of Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria (1634-1696), which is on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
Related: Diego Velázquez: The Portraitist of the Spanish Court
Two other portraits, said to have been painted by Goya and each offered for €7 million, show the Prince and Princess of Asturias, later King Charles IV (1748-1819) and Queen Maria Luisa (1751-1819) of Spain. In fact, these are slightly altered copies of two works by Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), which also belong to the Prado collection.
Related: The 7 Most Expensive Works by Francisco Goya
Furthermore, two other alleged Goya paintings, Allegory of the Pillar of Saragossa and Blessing of the Santa Rosa de Lima, were for sale for €4 million and €8 million, respectively. Experts who were called in were able to quickly identify the fakes, which were not particularly well painted.
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"Art counterfeiting is a crime that generates little social concern in Spain and is one of the most illicit capital-generating crimes, right behind drugs, guns and prostitution," said Gabriela Bravo. "Besides the economic value, the most important thing is that this criminal practice favors a devaluation of our creators, in this case great painters of our history."
