An octogenarian couple and their son have been brought to justice in Britain for making a small fortune out of faking artworks that fooled experts for 17 years, newspapers said Saturday.
George Greenhalgh, 84, his wife Olive, 83, and their 47-year-old son Shaun produced counterfeits of works dating back to ancient Rome and Egypt, operating out of a small house in Bolton, north-west England.
Shaun did most of the artwork while his father played the salesman. Detectives said they may have created up to 120 pieces with a total potential value of more than 10 million pounds (20 million dollars, 14 million euros), though their actual profits were between 500,000 and 600,000 pounds.
The family persuaded the Bolton local authority to pay 400,000 pounds for the Armana Princess, a 20-inch (51-centimetre) tall "Egyptian artefact" said to be worth up to one million pounds. The British Museum authenticated it and the Egyptology department at Christie's auction house valued it at 500,000 pounds.