The Heritage Group of the National Police Unit attached to the Valencian Community has intervened, in a joint operation with the Higher Police Headquarters of Catalonia, a total of 22 false paintings that were attributed to the painters Salvador Dalí, Antonio Saura, Joan Miró and Mariano Benlliure, and which were sold at auctions and on the Internet for an approximate total of 37,000 euros.
Specific, 15 plagiarized works by Dalí have been located, two by Saura, one by Miró and four by Benlliure. Some of them had falsified certificates of authenticity to support the deception, as reported by the Generalitat in a statement. The police investigation began in early November 2023 and has involved lto the arrest of four people as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of fraud and intellectual property.
According to this investigation, some of its owners had inherited the works from their ancestors and were unaware of the falsehood. In the case of Dalí’s paintings, they were acquired in different galleries in the United States. All works “copied the style, techniques and methods of the forged artists, including signatures”, the Generalitat has explained. However, the Heritage Group of the National Police Unit assigned to the Valencian Community certifies that all of them, including the accompanying certificates, are “false.”
