9. Banksy And The £200,000 Forgery Ring
Grant Champkins-Howard and Lee Parker received a suspended sentence of 12 months after pleading guilty to selling numerous fakes of prints purporting to be by the Urban Artist Banksy. They were also banned from selling anything on the Internet for five years and ordered to undertake 240 hours of community service. They had both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud. Banksy, whose trademark is shrouded in anonymity makes him an ideal target for fraudsters, as he would most likely be unwilling to appear in court. More than 120 fakes were recovered in raids of the men’s homes. If genuine, these would have been valued at £200,000. The fake prints included Turf War sold to a British buyer for £1,850, Golf Sale sold to an American for £6,500 and Monkey Queen sold to a Spaniard for £4,500. Detective Constable Ian Lawson, of the Metropolitan Police Art and Antiques Unit, said: “This was a lucrative and unscrupulous scam in which the culprits had no qualms about ripping off collectors.” Read our article here