Artwork forgery ring in Spain suspected of promoting Banksy copycats taken down by police

Police in Spain have dismantled an artwork forgery ring suspected of promoting artworks falsely attributed to British road artist Banksy, with some items fetching costs of 1,500 euros (or $1,640) or increased.

The Catalonia regional police drive Mossos d’Esquadra mentioned on Thursday it had raided a workshop inside an house within the metropolis of Zaragoza, the place the forgers created the pretend works earlier than distributing them by public sale rooms, vintage outlets or on-line platforms.

Investigators have seized 9 works and recorded no less than 25 gross sales to victims in Spain, Germany, Switzerland, the USA and Scotland, the Mossos added in a press release. 4 persons are underneath investigation, charged with fraud and crimes towards mental property.

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In keeping with the police, “a few younger followers of Banksy’s road artwork with financial issues” created Banksy-style works with stencils and ink stamps from the Zaragoza workshop, which they at first bought at costs no increased than 80 euros.

However a distributor “with data of the functioning of the graphic work market”, in collaboration with an ” distribution entity”, made pretend certificates attributing the works to the secretive Banksy, whose identification has by no means been revealed.

The artworks have been introduced as being a part of Banksy’s “Dismaland” challenge, a 2015 theme park-style set up within the British city of Weston-super-Mare.

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However the firm Pest Management, the one physique that certifies Banksy’s oeuvre, discovered that each the artworks and certificates have been false.

“The investigation stays open and additional victims and new arrests will not be dominated out,” the Mossos added.