Fraud with furniture that exposed the Versailles Palace

In the early 2010s, two decorated chairs appeared on the French market, which once belonged to the Versailles.

He believed that the most expensive chairs made for the last Queen of France, Marie Antonet, were stamped with the seal of Nicolas-Quinibert Foliot, the famous-albo of the Parotic-which worked in Paris in the 1700s.

In 2013, the French government was declared “national treasures” at the request of Versailles.

The palace, which reflects such items in its huge museum collection, expressed interest in buying chairs, but the price was considered too expensive.

Instead, they were sold to Prince Qatar Mohammed Ben Hamada al Tanya over the eyes of 2 million euros (£ 1.67 million).

Chairs have made up a large number of royal furniture of the 18th century, which appeared on the antique market over the past few years.

Other subjects included another set of chairs, which were allegedly sitting in one of the House of Marie Antonet in Versailles; A separate couple said that it belonged to Madame du Barry, the mistress of King Louis XV; King Louis XVI’s sisters, Princess of the Elissa; and pair promotions – Or the stools – the King Louis XV’s daughter, Louise Ellisabet, belonged to the daughter of King Louis XV.

Most of them were purchased by Versailles to display in their museum collection, and one chair was sold to a wealthy Hermes Hermes family.

But in 2016, this range of royal chairs will become involved in a national scandal that would unfold the world of French antiques, leading to disrespect.

The reason? Chairs were actually all the forgery.

In the scandal, one of the leading experts on the antiques of France, Georges “Bill” the House and the awarded cabinet, Bruno Desnus, filed a court on charges of fraud and money laundering after a nine -year investigation.

Kramer’s galleries and his director Laurent Kramer were also accused of cheating on the sale of some chairs – what they both deny.

All three accused must appear in court in Pontoise, near Paris on Wednesday after the trial in March. Dznos, while Mr. Kramer and his gallery are challenged by the allegations of gross negligence, have confessed to their crimes.

It is considered to be the chief scientist at the French chairmen of the 18th century, writing a reputable book on this topic, Mr. Pala was often called for Versailles, among others, to express their opinion on whether the historical subjects were true. He was even summoned as an expert witness in the French courts when there were doubts about the authenticity of the goods.

His accomplice, Mr. Desnus, was decorated with a cabinet manufacturer and a sculptor who won a number of prestigious awards, including the best sculptor in France in 1984, and was busy with the chief restorer in Versailles.

Speaking in court in March, Mr. Palot said that this scheme began as a “joke” with Mr Desnus in 2007 to find out if they could repeat the chair, they had already worked on the restoration belonging to Madame du Bari.

They managed the masters of their crafts, convincing other experts that it was the chairman of the period.

And buying their success, they started doing more.

Describing how they went to the construction of chairs, both described in court, as Mr. Platt made wooden frames at different auctions at low prices, while Mr. Desnus was outdated on his workshop to make others.

Then they were sent to gilding and upholstery before Mr Desnus added the design and decoration of the tree. He added stamps from some outstanding 18th-century furniture workers who were either fake or taken from real furniture of this period.

Once they ended, Mr. Sells sold them through the galleries, such as Kramer, and the one he worked with Didier Aaron. They will then be sold for auction houses, such as London Sotby and Druth from Paris.

“I was my head, and Desnus was hands,” Mr.

“It went like the wind,” he added. “Everything was fake, but money.”

Prosecutors claim that two men were approximately more than 3 million with euros with Kovunar Khunovy Chairs -although Mr. High and Mr. Desnus calculated a profit of 700,000 euros. The income was made to foreign bank accounts, the prosecutor’s office said.

Lawyers representing Versailles reported the BBC that Mr. Square, a teacher in Sorbonne, managed to deceive the institution from his “privileged access to documentation and archives of the Versailles and the Louvre Museum within his academic research.”

The statement of the lawyer’s team Karin Gershkovich states that thanks to the “thorough knowledge” of the House of Royal Furniture, recorded as in Versailles in the 18th century, he was able to determine what subjects were lacking in the collections, and then to make them with the help of Mr. Dzenus.

Mr -n Desnoues also had access to the original chairs that he made copies, they added, allowing it to produce fakes that had all the visual appearance of the true, to the rooms and the labels of the period. “

“The fraudulent connection between the two professionally achieved men, recognized by their peers, made it possible to deceive the French institutions, which considered them as partners and betraying them with trust, damaging the reputation of Versailles and its curators,” they said.

Prosecutor Pascal Reyer said the trial emphasized the need for more reliable regulation of the art market, as well as lighten the light on the standards that should be dealerships.

The court heard that the authorities were warned under this scheme when the lush lifestyle of the Portuguese man and his partner attracted the attention of the French authorities.

Police asked about the acquisition of property in France and Portugal worth 1.2 million euros, and on income of about 2500 euros per month, a person who turned out to work at the Paris Gallery, confessed to the average person who collaborated in the fraud of furniture, AFP reports. Then the monetary trail led the investigators to Mr. Desnus and Mr. Flag.

Some of those who were initially accused of this case, including intermediaries, were later accused of them.

But both Laurent Kramer and Kramer’s gallery, which were sold on some forged chairs collectors, such as Versailles and Prince Qatar al-Thani.

Prosecutors claim that while the gallery itself may have been deceived primarily by buying fake works, Mr. Kramer and the gallery were “roughly careless” if not enough to check the authenticity of the items before selling their collectors at high prices.

In his final arguments, the prosecutor Mr. Reyer stated that, based on the reputation and contacts of the Gallery Kramer, they could take the furniture to Versailles or the Louvre to compare them.

“They could also hire other experts, given the amounts that stand on the map and consider the opacity of the origin of chairs.”

Speaking in court, the lawyer representing Mr. Kramer and the gallery, insisted that his client “fell a victim of fraud rather than accomplisher”, saying that Mr. Kramer never had direct contact with the division.

In a statement to the BBC, lawyers Martin Ryeno and Maurism Correge added: “The gallery was not an accomplice to the counterfeiters, the gallery did not know that the furniture was false, and she could not discover it.”

“Like Shato -Deal, and experts who classified furniture as national treasures, Kramer’s gallery has fallen victim to forgery,” they added.

“We wait for the decision acknowledged it.”

The BBC contacted the lawyer Mr. House for comments. BBC could not get to Mr. Desnus or his lawyer.