Furniture fraud that climbed the Palace of Versailles

In early 2010, two decorative chairs appeared that they belonged once on the ground of the Versailles Palace in the French antiques market.

It is believed to be the most expensive chairs made for the last Queen of France, Mary Antoinette, sealed with the stamp of the Folot Nicholas Quinbert, a famous carpenter-who worked in Paris in the eighteenth century.

An important discovery, the husband was declared “national treasures” by the French government in 2013, at the request of Versailles.

The palace, which displays such elements in the vast museum group, expressed his interest in buying chairs, but the price was very dear.

Instead, it was sold to the Qatari Prince Muhammad bin Hamad Al Thani for the water of 2 million euros (1.67 million pounds).

Chairs have formed a noticeable number of royal furniture in the eighteenth century that appeared in the antiques market in the past few years.

Other elements included another set of alleged chairs for sitting in one of the Marie Antoinette rooms in Versailles; A separate husband is said to belong to Madam de Bari, King Louis XV’s mistress; The chair of the arms of the sister of King Louis XVI, Princess Illisabeth; And a pair of Pottery – or stools – who belongs to the daughter of King Louis XV, Princess Luiz Ellisabeth.

Most of these were bought by Versailles to display it in the museum group, while one chair was sold to the wealthy Guerrand-herès family.

But in 2016, it will become a variety of royal chairs involved in a national scandal that shakes the world of French antiques, making trade in a bad condition.

the reason? The chairs were actually every fake.

The scandal witnessed one of the most prominent antiques in France, George “Bell” Balot, and the award -winning cabinet maker, Bruno Desiny’s, was tried for fraud and money laundering after a nine -year investigation.

Gallery Karmer and her director, Laurent Karmer, were also accused of deceiving because of the serious neglect of selling it to some chairs – which they deny both of them.

The three defendants are scheduled to appear in a court in Punoz, near Paris on Wednesday after a trial in March. Mr. Pallot and Mr. Desnoues admitted their crimes, while Mr. Kraemer and his exhibition oppose the charge of deception due to serious neglect.

She is considered the highest researcher on the eighteenth -century French chairs, after writing a reliable book on this topic, Mr. Pallot was often called by Versailles, among other things, to give his experts on whether historical materials are the real deal. He was even summoned as an expert in French courts when there were doubts about the authenticity of an element.

His partner, Mr. desnoues, a treasury maker and a decorative sculptor who won a number of prestigious awards, including the best sculptor in France in 1984, was working as a main reference for furniture in Versailles.

Speaking in court in March, Mr. Balout said that the plan started a “joke” with Mr. Desnoues in 2007 to see if they could repeat a chair with arms who were already working to restore Madame de Bari.

Their handicraft masters managed this feat, and persuaded other experts that it was a chair of this period.

They successfully raised their success, they started making more.

Describing how they went about the construction of chairs, and the second described in the court how Mr. Balout prepared wood tires in different auctions for low prices, while Mr. Disnoyis ranged between the ages of wood in his workshop to make others.

Then they were sent to go and upload, before Mr. Desnoues added designs and wooden end. The stamps of some of the great furniture colleagues in the eighteenth century, who were either fake or taken from real furniture during that period.

Once they ended, Mr. Pallot sold them through brokers to exhibitions such as Kraemer and one in it, Didier Aaron. Then they are sold in auctions such as Sotheby’s Of London and Druot from Paris.

“I was the head and Deno was his hands.”

“He went like a breeze,” he added. “Everything was fake but money.”

Prosecutors claim that the two men achieved an estimated profit for more than 3 million euros of forged chairs – although Mr. Pallot and Mr. Desnees estimated that their profits were less than 700,000 euros. Prosecutors said that income was deposited in foreign bank accounts.

Lawyers representing Versailles told the BBC, Mr. Balot, a lecturer in Sorbon, who were able to deceive the institution because of his “distinguished access to documents, archives of Versailles and Louvre Museum as part of his academic research.”

A statement issued by the lawyer of the lawyer, Corin Hirschovic, said that thanks to the “comprehensive knowledge” of Mr. Balout for the registered royal furniture stocks as being in Versailles in the eighteenth century, he was able to identify the missing elements of the groups and then made them with the help of Mr. Des.

“It enables him to produce falsehoods that had all the visual appearance of inventory numbers and marks of the period.”

They said: “The fraudulent relationship between these two men, who are professional, recognized by their peers, made it possible to deceive the French institutions that considered them partners and betrayal of their confidence, and thus destroying the reputation of Versailles and its coordinators.”

Public Prosecutor Pascal Rayer said that the trial highlighted the need to organize more powerful for the art market, and shed light on the criteria that antiques merchants must adhere to.

The court heard that the authorities had been alerted to the plan when it drew the attention of the French authorities to the lifestyle.

The police were interrogated from the acquisition of real estate in France and Portugal with a value of 1.2 million euros while he was on the income of about 2,500 euros a month, and the man who was working as a high -level in the Parisian showrooms – in his role in working as a medieval cooperation in the benefit of furniture. Then the money corridor led to the investigators to Mr. desnoues and Mr. Pallot.

Some of those who were originally charged in the case, including mediators, later charges against them.

But the charges against Laurent Kremir and Gallery Karmer, who sold some of the forged chairs for the crowd amateurs, such as Versailles and the Prince of the Emir.

Prosecutors claim that although the exhibition itself may have been deceived in buying fake pieces first, Mr. Kraemer and the exhibition are “greatly neglected” in failure to verify the health of the elements adequately before selling them to their colleges at high prices.

In his closing arguments, Public Prosecutor, Mr. Rayer, said that, based on “the reputation of Gallery Karamer and their contacts, they could have taken furniture to Versailles or the Louvre Museum to compare them.

“They could also appoint other experts in view of the amounts at stake and look at the ostrich on the origin of the chairs.”

Speaking at court, the lawyer who represented Mr. Kraemer and the exhibition on his client insisted “he is the victim of fraud, not a partner,” saying that Mr. Kramer was not in direct contact with farmers.

In a statement to the British Broadcasting Corporation, Lawyers Martin Renaoud and Mauricia Corrarge added: “The exhibition was not a partner for the suppliers.

They added, “Like Château de Versailles and specialists who classified the furniture as national treasures, Kraemer was a victim of counterfeiters,” they added.

“We are awaiting the ruling to recognize this.”

BBC called Mr. Balout’s lawyer to comment. The BBC was unable to reach Mr. Disenis or his lawyer.