European fake art network involving Banksys, Warhols, Modiglianis uncovered in Italy

ROME (AP) — Italian authorities say a network of European art forgers who painted fake Warhols, Banksys and Picassos and then tried to sell them to unsuspecting buyers with the help of complicit auction houses has been dismantled.

Thirty-eight people have been placed under investigation, including six in Spain, France and Belgium. Italian authorities say the network could have done 200 million euros ($212 million) in economic damage by flooding the art market with fake works.

Italy’s culture ministry said Monday the seizures in Italy, France, Spain and Belgium netted 2,100 fake works attributed to more than 30 famed artists, including Andy Warhol, Amedeo Modigliani, Banksy, Pablo Picasso, Joan Mirò, Francis Bacon, Wassily Kandinsky, Henry Moore and Gustav Klimt.

The operation uncovered a network of forgers in Spain, France and Belgium who produced the works, said Eurojust, the European Union agency for judicial cooperation. Fake Warhols and Banksys were the most commonly forged and the fakes were exhibited at shows in Mestre and Cortona, Italy, with a catalogue published, the authorities said.

Eurojust said the network was able to use complicit auction houses in Italy that issued forged certificates and stamps of authenticity, some 500 of which were also seized.

The investigation began in March 2023 when Italian authorities discovered 200 fakes during the search of the home of a Pisa businessman that prompted them to monitor e-commerce sites of auction houses to see if others were involved in the network.

Those arrested are accused of conspiracy to forge and deal in contemporary art, Eurojust said.

Fake modern and contemporary artworks that were sized by police are show in Rome in this handout image provided by the Italian Culture Ministry on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Italian Culture Ministry, HOGP)

A fake Amedeo Modigliano drawing that was sized by police is show in Rome in this handout image provided by the Italian Culture Ministry on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Italian Culture Ministry, HOGP)

Fake modern and contemporary artworks that were sized by police are show in Rome in this handout image provided by the Italian Culture Ministry on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Italian Culture Ministry, HOGP)

Fake Banksy artworks that were sized by police are show in Rome in this handout image provided by the Italian Culture Ministry on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Italian Culture Ministry, HOGP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who worked for the U.S. government has been charged with leaking classified information assessing Israel's earlier plans to attack Iran, according to court papers filed Wednesday.

The man, identified as Asif William Rahman, was arrested by the FBI this week in Cambodia and was due to make his first court appearance in Guam.

He was indicted last week in U.S. court in Virginia on two counts of willful transmission of national defense information — felony charges that can carry significant prison sentences.

It was not immediately clear whether Rahman had a lawyer or which federal agency employed him, but officials say he had a top-secret security clearance with access to sensitive compartmented information.

The charges stem from the documents, attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, appearing last month on a channel of the Telegram messaging app. The documents noted that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1.

Israel carried out a retaliatory attack on multiple sites in Iran in late October.

The documents were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The emergence of the documents triggered an FBI investigation that examined how the documents were obtained — including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any other intelligence information was compromised. Officials also worked to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted.

The New York Times was first to report his arrest.

FILE - The FBI's J. Edgar Hoover headquarters building is seen in Washington on Nov. 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

FILE - The FBI seal is pictured in Omaha, Neb., Aug. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)