A gallery owner has been arrested in Palma for forging and selling works of art by a Mallorcan artist.

PalmThe National Police have arrested a gallery owner in Palma de Mallorca on suspicion of fraud, document forgery, and intellectual property violations for his involvement in the sale of forged works of art by a renowned Mallorcan artist (whose name will not be made public at the request of his family). The detainee sold several fraudulent copies of the artist's paintings outside of Spain, accompanied by forged certificates of authenticity.

The events began a few years ago, when a relative of the artist sold two works, along with their respective certificates, to the owner of this art gallery. The gallery owner recently requested new certificates for two other alleged works by the same artist, destined for an international auction house.

It was at this point that the victim—the artist's relative—recognized that the new paintings did not correspond to the artist's style or characteristics and confirmed that they were forgeries. He also discovered that his certificates of authenticity were being fraudulently copied and used to endorse these works.

Shortly after, another international gallery contacted the victim to create a collection of silkscreen prints based on two new works by the same artist. Upon receiving the images, it was again confirmed that they were fake pieces.

After reporting the incident to the National Police, the investigation led to the identification of the alleged perpetrator of the forgery and distribution of the works. This person turned out to be the owner of the art gallery in Mallorca, the same person who had acquired the original paintings years earlier.

The police arrested her and are continuing their investigation to determine if there are more forged works in circulation and possible people involved in this art fraud network.