Egypt

Statue forger ordered to pay thousands to museum

The Bolton News (Paul Keaveny)

A MASTER forger and his elderly parents have been ordered to pay £363,000 to Bolton Museum after conning bosses into buying a fake statue.

Shaun Greenhalgh along with his mum and dad, George and Olive, duped experts into spending £440,000 on the Amarna Princess in 2003.

The statue was said to be 3,300 years old and was authenticated by experts at Christie's and the British Museum.

But in early 2006 it was revealed as a fake, and a subsequent investigation by the Metropolitan Police unmasked the Greenhalghs as a family of con artists.

It was later revealed the three had conspired to dupe numerous art institutions over the course of 17 years, selling many fake pieces of art.

The family was estimated to have made £850,000 from their dealings, but yesterday Bolton Crown Court heard that between them, they only had assets of £404,250, which were confiscated by the court.

See the above page for the full story.

- Amarna Fake To Go On Display
Manchester Evening News (Paul Britton) An infamous forged statue of an Egyptian princess will go on display at the same museum that paid £440,000 for it. Bolton council believed the 20-inch statue, the Amarna Princess, was more than 3,300 years old after...

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Bolton News (Paul Keaveny) The recently convicted Greenhalgh family, who forged an Amarna statue which was purchased by Bolton Museum, are apparently being given TV time on the UK's Channel 4 tomorrow evening. I won't be at home tomorrow and I've...

- Amarna Statuette Forger Jailed For Art Con
BBC News A 47-year-old man has been jailed for more than four years for what police said was "the most sustained and diverse" art forgery case ever. Shaun Greenhalgh, from Bolton, passed off scores of faked artefacts and artworks as genuine. His mother...

- Couple Pleads Guilty To Fraud Over Egyptian Statue Fakery
Manchester Evening News A COUPLE in their 80s today pleaded guilty to defrauding galleries and antique dealers by passing off fake works of art. George Greenhalgh, 84, and Olive Greenhalgh, 83, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, conspired to defraud art institutions...

- More Re Charges Relating To Forged Amarna Statue
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6596597.stm"Bolton Council paid £440,000 for the Amarna Princess in 2003 believing it was 3,300-years-old - but in 2006 experts found it was counterfeit. George Greenhalgh, his wife Olive, 82, and sons, George,...

Egypt