Trial set for dealers who sold fake Amarna statuette in Bolton UK

A family appeared in court yesterday accused of passing off a fake Egyptian artefact to a local authority for more than £400,000.

George Greenhalgh, 83, who is wheelchair-bound, was positioned outside the dock while his wife Olive, 82, holding a walking stick, joined their two middle-aged sons inside.The Amarna Princess statuette was bought for £410,393 by Bolton metropolitan borough council in September 2003 in the belief it was genuine. It was said to date from 1350BC and represent one of the daughters of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti, the mother of Tutankhamen, and be worth up to £1 million.The 20-inch figure went on display in Bolton museum after being featured in an exhibition opened by the Queen at the Hayward Gallery, London. Officers from the Metropolitan Police art and antiques unit removed the artefact last year after concerns about its authenticity.

A MAN has pleaded guilty to being involved in the sale of a fake Egyptian statue to Bolton Council for more than £410,000. Shaun Greenhalgh, aged 47, admitted his role in laundering the cash from the sale of the Amarna Princess statue, as well as passing off fake artworks to galleries and dealers over a 17-year period.

The 20-inch sculpture was originally believed to be 3,300 years old and worth £1 million when it went on display at Bolton Museum, but last year experts determined it to be fake.

Greenhalgh appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday, along with his father George, aged 83, his mother Olive, aged 82, and his older brother George, aged 52. Shaun Greenhalgh pleaded guilty to conspiring with others between November, 2003, and March, 2006, to "conceal, disguise, convert or transfer £410,392, knowing that it represented the proceeds of criminal conduct, namely the sale of the Amarna Princess". He also pleaded guilty to conspiring with others between June, 1989, and March, 2006, to defraud art and antique dealers, museums, auction houses, academic institutions, art galleries and other people.

A MAN has admitted defrauding art galleries and antique dealers by passing off fake works of art. Shaun Greenhalgh, 47, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud various art institutions between 1989 and last year.

He also admitted conspiracy to conceal and transfer £410,393, the proceeds of a the sale of the Amarna Princess statuette, said to be of King Tutankhamun's sister. Greenhalgh appeared at Bolton Crown Court with his mother Olive, 82, brother George junior, 52, and his father George snr, 83, all of The Crescent, Bromley Cross, Bolton. George snr and Olive are charged with the same offences. George junior is accused of acquiring criminal property. All three co-accused entered no pleas. Judge William Morris told Shaun Greenhalgh he will be sentenced when the case of his parents and brother has been concluded. A provisional trial date was set for February 4 next year.