Fraud of furniture that hoodwink the Versailles Palace

In early 2010, two ornate chairs were once said to have appeared in the French Antiquix market.

The last queen of France was thought to be the most expensive chairs for Antoonet, who was sealed with Nicholas-Quinibart Foliot, a famous or carpenter who worked in Paris in the 1700s.

Significant search, the French government declared the “National Funds” in 2013 at the request of the pair.

The palace, which displays such items in its vast museum collection, expressed interest in buying chairs but the price is considered very dear.

Instead they were sold for Katari Prince Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani for a watering m 2m (£ 1.67m).

Chairs have a significant number of 18th century royal furniture that appeared in the market for the past few years.

Other items include another chairs that are intended to sit in one of the Mary Antoonnet of Versailles; A separate couple who claimed to belong to King Louis XV’s mistress Madame Du Barry; King Louis XVI’s sister, Princess Elisabeth’s armchair; And a pair Status – or feces – that’s the daughter of King Louis XV, Princess Louis Elisabeth.

Most of these were purchased to display in his museum collection, while a chair was sold to the rich Gereland-Hermes family.

But in 2016, this collection of royal chairs will get caught up in the national scandal, which rocks the French ancient world and is notorious.

Reason? The chairs were actually all fakes.

The scandal, one of the leading ancient experts in France, Georges “Bill” Pallot and the award -winning cabinet manufacturer Bruno Desaws, were on trial after a nine -year investigation.

Gallery Crimar and its director Laurent Crimar have been accused of fraud for selling on some chairs – they are denied.

The three accused are ready to appear in a court in Pontois near Paris on Wednesday after a hearing in March. Mr. Pallot and Mr. Desaws have agreed to their crimes, but Mr. Crimer and his gallery are confused by the allegation of fraud by complete neglect.

In the 18th -century French French chairs, top scholars, after writing an official book on the subject, Mr. Pallot was often called by Versailles, who gave his opinion on whether historical objects were a real business. He was called as an expert witness in French courts when there were doubts about the authenticity of the item.

His companion, Mr. Desaw’s, decorated cabinet maker and sculptor, won several prestigious awards, including France’s best sculptor in 1984, and was employed as the main restoration of furniture in Versailles.

Speaking in court in March, Mr. Pallot said the project began in 2007 as a “joke” with Mr. Desaws, saying that he was already a Madame du Bari to see if he could repeat the arms that he was already working to restore.

The masters of their craftsmanship, they managed this feat, convinced other experts that it was a chair for this period.

And encouraged by his success, they started to do more.

Explaining how they went to build chairs, the two men explained in the court how Mr. Pallot originated the wooden frames at different auctions at different auctions, but Mr. Desmouz aged the Wood in his workshop.

He was sent for gilding and equipment before adding Mr. Dessehse designs and wood finish. He added stamps by some great furniture-laborers of the 18th century, which were fake or taken from the real furniture of this period.

When he was finished, Mr. Pallot sold him to galleries like Crimar by intermediaries and he worked himself at Didier Aaron. He was then sold to auction houses such as the Sothebis of London and the Drout of Paris.

“I was the head of the head and the hands of the despose,” Mr. Pallot laughed and told the court.

“It went like a breeze,” he said. “Everything is fake but money.”

Prosecutors have accused the prosecutors of estimating a profit of more than € 3 million from counterfeit chairs – although Mr. Pallot and Mr. Desaws have estimated their profits, 000 700,000. Revenues have been deposited in foreign bank accounts, plaintiffs said.

Advocates representing Versailles said to BBC, Mr Pallot, a lecturer in Sorbon, said that “part of his academic research, the enrollment of the Versailles and the Louvre Museum as part of his academic research” managed to deceive the organization.

In a statement to lawyer Korin Korin Korin Harshkovich’s team said in a statement that Mr. Pallot’s “full knowledge”, which was recorded in Versailles in the 18th century, was able to decide what items were missing from the collections and then with the help of Mr. Desaws.

Mr. Desaws had access to the original chairs made by copies, “he said,” with all the visual views of the authenticity, allowing them to produce duplicates up to the inventory numbers and period labels. “

“The fraud between these two professionally is recognized by their peers, which has been able to deceive French organizations that treat them as partners and betray their faith, causing harm to the fame of Versailles and its supervisors,” he said.

The prosecutor Pascal Ryer, this inquiry highlighted the need for a more visual argument of the art market, and sheds light on the ancient objects to be cherished by dealers.

The court heard that the project was warned by the authorities when the Portuguese man’s lavish lifestyle and his partner caught the attention of French officials.

The police have questioned the acquisition of assets in France and Million worth of Portugal, but about 500 2,500 per month, the man who worked as a handman in the Paris galleries, has agreed to work as a Middleman who cooperated with furniture fraud. The money path took the investigators to Mr. Desaws and Mr. Pallot.

Some of those who originally indicted the case were abandoned by the allegations against them, including Middlemen.

But the allegations against both Laurent Crimar and Gallery Crimar were sold to collectors such as Versailles and Qatar’s Prince Al-Thani.

Prosecutors allege that Mr. Crimer and Gallery have failed to check adequately before selling the items before selling the gallery for the first time the gallery is cheated on to buy fake pieces.

In his closing arguments, Prosecutor Mr. Ryer said that Galerie Krimer’s “fame and contacts, he said that he could have taken the furniture to Versailles or Louvre.

“They could have hired other experts and the amount of the amount and the opacity of the origin of the chairs could be considered.”

Speaking in court, the lawyer representing Mr. Crimer and the gallery insisted that his client was “victim to fraud, not companion,” Mr. Crimar said that there was never direct contact with forged.

In a statement to the BBC, lawyers Martin Raynad and Mauritiya Korreg said: “The gallery was not a fake companion.

“As experts who classified Chetou de Varsales and furniture as national wealth, the criminal gallery is a victim of counterfeits,” he said.

“We are waiting for the judgment to recognize this.”

BBC contacted Mr Pallot’s lawyer for the comment. The BBC was unable to reach Mr Desouse or his lawyer.