Fraudster sentenced after trying to sell bogus ancient statues with fake papers to Sotheby’s

A fraudster who tried to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s was foiled when the counterfeit paperwork was found to be made with modern printing methods.

Andrew Crowley, 46, of Longwell Green in Gloucestershire, approached the auction house to value artifacts he had inherited from his grandfather, Southwark Crown Court heard on Friday.

Prosecutors allege that, if real, the three Cycladic figures, from the Cyclades islands in Greece, and one Anatolian stargazer statuette would have been worth about £680,000 based on previous sales.

But Judge Nicholas Rimmer said the estimate hinged on multiple hypotheticals and reduced the value to £340,000.

Crowley had presented invoices for the statues that purported to be written in 1976, using a typewriter on paper embossed with an antique dealer's logo and a nine-pence stamp.

But the forgery was discovered after forensics found the papers were made using printing methods invented in 2001.

Sotheby's experts also spotted multiple spelling mistakes in the document, including in the supplier's title.

Crowley was handed a two-year suspended sentence.

The judge said: "It was a crude attempt because Sotheby's rumbled, to use the vernacular, or spotted, these documents as bogus fairly early on."

The judge accepted Crowley's explanation that he inherited the statues from his grandfather and had never believed that they were counterfeits.

Therefore, the "offending and dishonesty in this case must turn around the paperwork", he said.

Crowley previously admitted dishonestly making a false representation to Sotheby's auction house intending to make gain between 4 November 2022 and 27 July 2023.

He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,630 in costs over three months.

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Metropolitan Police Detective Constable Ray Swan, who led the investigation, said in a statement: "This case also highlights the crucial role played by industry experts in helping to protect the integrity of the London art market.

"Sotheby's staff acted responsibly and swiftly in raising their concerns, and their cooperation was instrumental in preventing a significant fraud."

A spokesperson for Sotheby's praised the force's "meticulous and superbly executed investigation that has helped prevent fraudulent material entering the market".

Legitimate Cycladic statues were made in the Cyclades islands in Greece during the Bronze Age about 3,000 years ago.

The Cycladic statues Crowley presented were each about 30cm tall, weighing about 1kg, police said.

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