Statue forger ordered to pay thousands to museum

The Bolton News (Paul Keaveny)

A MASTER forger and his elderly parents have been ordered to pay £363,000 to Bolton Museum after conning bosses into buying a fake statue.

Shaun Greenhalgh along with his mum and dad, George and Olive, duped experts into spending £440,000 on the Amarna Princess in 2003.

The statue was said to be 3,300 years old and was authenticated by experts at Christie's and the British Museum.

But in early 2006 it was revealed as a fake, and a subsequent investigation by the Metropolitan Police unmasked the Greenhalghs as a family of con artists.

It was later revealed the three had conspired to dupe numerous art institutions over the course of 17 years, selling many fake pieces of art.

The family was estimated to have made £850,000 from their dealings, but yesterday Bolton Crown Court heard that between them, they only had assets of £404,250, which were confiscated by the court.

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