'Ancient' statues fraud foiled by fake paperwork

A man attempted to sell inherited ancient-style statues to Sotheby’s in London between November 2022 and July 2023. He provided invoices and accompanying paperwork claiming the documents were produced in 1976. Forensic analysis found the paperwork was created using printing methods invented in 2001. The court heard the documents were typed on paper embossed with an antiques dealer’s logo and included a nine-pence stamp, but Sotheby’s spotted the documents as fake early. Experts also identified spelling mistakes. The judge accepted the statues were inherited and not believed to be counterfeits, so the dishonesty centered on the paperwork. A two-year suspended prison sentence was imposed.

"A fraudster who tried to sell bogus ancient statues to Sotheby's was foiled when his fake accompanying paperwork was found to be written with printing methods that were 25 years too modern, a court heard. Andrew Crowley, 46, of Longwell Green, Gloucestershire, asked the auction house to value three Cycladic figures and an Anatolian stargazer statuette he had inherited from his grandfather. He had presented fake invoices that purported to be written in 1976 - but forensics found they were made using printing methods invented in 2001."

"Crowley, who admitted dishonestly making a false representation intending to make gain, was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence at Southwark Crown Court. Crowley had tried to sell the statues to Sotheby's auction house in London between November 2022 and July 2023. Prosecutors alleged that, if real, the items together would have been worth about 680,000 based on previous sales. However, Judge Nicholas Rimmer said that estimate hinged on multiple hypotheticals and therefore reduced the value to 340,000."

"The court heard the accompanying paperwork had been typed using a typewriter on paper embossed with an antiques dealers' logo and even a nine-pence stamp. "It was a crude attempt because Sotheby's spotted these documents as bogus fairly early on," Judge Rimmer said. Sotheby's experts had also spotted multiple spelling mistakes, it was heard. Metropolitan Police The judge accepted that Crowley had inherited the statues from his grandfather and did not at any point believe that they were counterfeits."

"Therefore "the offending and dishonesty in this case must turn around the paperwork", he said. The Cycladic statues were each about 30cm (7.9in) tall and weighed about 1kg, police said. Legitimate Cycladics were made in the Cyclades, a group of islands in Greece, during the Bronze Age about 3,000 years ago. Crowley was also ordered to complete 200 hours o"

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