Fraudster trying to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s foiled over bogus invoices
Summary
A man named Andrew Crowley tried to sell fake ancient statues to the auction house Sotheby’s. Experts found that the paperwork he used was forged with modern printing methods, exposing the fraud.Key Facts
- Andrew Crowley, 46, from Gloucestershire, tried to sell four ancient-looking statues to Sotheby’s.
- The statues included three Cycladic figures and one Anatolian stargazer statuette.
- Crowley presented fake invoices claiming to be from 1976, but they were printed using technology created in 2001.
- Sotheby’s experts noticed spelling errors on the fake documents, helping to uncover the fraud.
- The statues were said to be worth about £680,000 if genuine, but the judge lowered the estimated value due to uncertainty.
- Crowley admitted to dishonestly making false claims to Sotheby’s and received a two-year suspended sentence.
- He was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,630 in costs.
- Police and Sotheby’s praised the swift work of experts who stopped a serious fraud in the London art market.
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