Fake art bust

Police said they seized over 1,000 fake Alberto Giacometti bronzes and sculptures in the swoop.

The three arrested - a 59-year-old man from Frankfurt and a 61-year-old art dealer and his wife - face charges of collaborating since 2004 to sell the fake works on the international market.

Prosecutors in south-western Germany said in a statement that the sales are believed to have been worth tens of millions of dollars.

Genuine works by Giacometti have fetched sums in the millions, most notably a bronze which was purchased at an auction last year in New York for more than $27 million (19 million euros).

Prosecutors said the 61-year-old had been posing as a count who also worked as an artwork salesman. His 59-year-old colleague then pretended to be a friend of Giacometti's brother, saying that he had found the statues in a secret cache after the artist's death in 1966.

dfm/AFP/AP

Editor: Susan Houlton