A man from Gloucestershire attempted to pass off counterfeit ancient statues as genuine artefacts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds at Sotheby's, one of the world's most famous auction houses. His plan unraveled not because experts doubted the objects themselves, but because the paperwork he submitted gave him away entirely.
The Attempted Fraud
Andrew Crowley, 46, from Longwell Green, approached Sotheby's to value three Cycladic figures and one Anatolian stargazer statuette. He claimed he had inherited them from his grandfather. If genuine, the four pieces would have fetched around 680,000 pounds based on previous comparable sales. However, the judge at Southwark Crown Court later revised that figure to 340,000 pounds given the number of uncertainties involved.
How the Scheme Was Discovered
To support his case, Crowley presented invoices that looked authentic on the surface. The documents appeared to date from 1976 and were typed on paper bearing an antique dealer's logo along with a nine-pence stamp. However, forensic scientists found that the printing methods used in those documents were not invented until 2001. Additionally, Sotheby's own experts noticed spelling errors, including a mistake in the supplier's name.
Judge Rimmer told Southwark Crown Court that it was a crude attempt and that Sotheby's spotted the documents as bogus fairly early on. The court accepted that Crowley genuinely believed the statues were real and had no idea they were counterfeits.
Background on the Statues
Legitimate Cycladic pieces date back roughly 3,000 years to the Bronze Age and originate from the Greek islands of the Cyclades. Each of the statues in this case stood around 30 centimeters tall and weighed about 1 kilogram. The Anatolian stargazer statuette is a type of ancient figure from what is now Turkey.
Legal Outcome
Crowley had previously admitted to dishonestly making a false representation to Sotheby's between November 2022 and July 2023. He received a two-year suspended sentence along with 200 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay 1,630 pounds in costs.
This case highlights the importance of due diligence in the art world and the lengths to which forensic science can go to uncover fraud. Sotheby's vigilance prevented a significant financial loss and upheld the integrity of the auction process.
