Latest Counterfeiting and forgery News
Winston Churchill portrait returns to Ottawa after international art caper
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A stolen portrait of Winston Churchill that was swapped with a forgery during the pandemic has returned to its rightful place, after two Ottawa police detectives traveled to Rome to retrieve it. Police said ”The Roaring Lion" was stolen from the Fairmont...
Latvia charges 2 Lithuanians for counterfeiting Ariel laundry products in organized criminal venture
HELSINKI (AP) — Latvian police said Thursday that criminal proceedings have been initiated against two Lithuanian citizens suspected of counterfeiting Ariel laundry detergent products and distributing them in significant quantities across Europe as part of an organized international crime...
European fake art network involving Banksys, Warhols, Modiglianis uncovered in Italy
ROME (AP) — Italian authorities say a network of European art forgers who painted fake Warhols, Banksys and Picassos and then tried to sell them to unsuspecting buyers with the help of complicit auction houses has been dismantled. Thirty-eight people have been placed under...
Judge delays ruling on whether to scrap Trump's conviction in hush money case
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has postponed a decision on whether to undo President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction as prosecutors consider how to proceed in light of last week’s election and his lawyers argue for dismissal so he can run the country. The postponement...
The 'Black Insurrectionist' was actually white. The deception did not stop there
WASHINGTON (AP) — “Black Insurrectionist,” the anonymous social media persona behind some of the most widely circulated conspiracy theories about the 2024 election, can be traced to a man from upstate New York. He's also white. With a profile photo of a Black...
City Council candidate claims he's George Floyd's cousin. His family says otherwise
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Relatives of a City Council candidate in Richmond, Virginia, are casting doubt on his claim that he is a cousin of George Floyd, the Black man whose 2020 death in police custody reignited the national Black Lives Matter movement. Tavares Floyd wants to...
Arraignment for funeral home owner accused of leaving body in hearse delayed again
DENVER (AP) — An arraignment for a funeral home owner accused of keeping a woman’s corpse in the back of a hearse for over a year and improperly stashing the cremated remains of at least 30 people was delayed again on Friday. Miles Harford had been scheduled to enter a plea to...
Florida government finds fault with abortion ballot measure over ads and petitions
Florida's government is finding fault on multiple fronts with an abortion rights ballot measure that Gov. Ron DeSantis opposes. This month, the state health department has been telling television stations they could be subject to criminal charges if they continue airing one ad from...
Some children tied to NY nurse's fake vaccine scheme are barred from school
NEW YORK (AP) — A suburban New York school district has barred patients of a former nurse practitioner who pleaded guilty to running a fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination card scheme. The move by school officials in the Long Island hamlet of Plainedge comes nearly three years after...
Federal prosecutors file new indictment against ex-Louisville police officers
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Federal prosecutors filed a new indictment Tuesday against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor’s door before they fatally shot her. The Justice Department's superseding indictment comes weeks...