Greece’s Cultural Heritage and Antiquities Protection Department uncovered the art forgery ring following a tip-off  by the daughter of one of the Greek painters whose art was forged.

The forgers planned to auction the fake works—attributed to renowned Greek painters—under the title “39th Greek Art.” The operation was expected to generate between €300,000 and €400,000 in illicit profits.

Following the tip-off, authorities enlisted the National Gallery’s Collections Department to review the auction catalog and verify the authenticity of the advertised works.

The replicas included pieces falsely attributed to prominent deceased Greek artists, such as Alekos Fassianos, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Dimitris Mytaras, Konstantinos Parthenis, Panayiotis Tetsis, Yiannis Gaitis, Dimitris Tiniakos, Yiannis Tsarouchis, Yiannis Spyropoulos, Giorgos Sikeliotis, Dora Bouki, and Giorgos Syrigos, among others.

After confirming the paintings were forgeries, officers from the Cultural Heritage and Antiquities Protection Department, part of the Police’s Subdirectorate for Combating Trafficking and Smuggling, conducted a raid on a “gallery” in Thessaloniki and nearby storage facilities on the eve of the auction.

All 123 forged pieces listed for sale especially to buyers abroad were identified and confiscated. The artworks had been misrepresented as genuine pieces by various artists.

Arrested have been reportedly the  70-year-old “gallery” owner, his 42-year-old daughter and a 62-year-old man who has alleged made the copies of the original art works.

Authorities continue investigations uncovering additional artworks whose authenticity and provenance are being scrutinized.

In addition to the gallery, three workshops producing forged paintings linked to the two male suspects were discovered.

The three arrestees have been taken to prosecutor on Friday.