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Greek Police Arrest 3 Accused of Faking and Selling at Auction Scores of Artworks

The Parthenon temple is reflected in a puddle, while people visit the Ancient Acropolis archaeological site in Athens, Greece, December 3, 2024. (Reuters)
The Parthenon temple is reflected in a puddle, while people visit the Ancient Acropolis archaeological site in Athens, Greece, December 3, 2024. (Reuters)
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Greek Police Arrest 3 Accused of Faking and Selling at Auction Scores of Artworks

The Parthenon temple is reflected in a puddle, while people visit the Ancient Acropolis archaeological site in Athens, Greece, December 3, 2024. (Reuters)
The Parthenon temple is reflected in a puddle, while people visit the Ancient Acropolis archaeological site in Athens, Greece, December 3, 2024. (Reuters)

Three people have been arrested in northern Greece on suspicion of systematically counterfeiting works by leading Greek artists and selling them as originals through an online auction house, police said Friday.

A police statement said the arrests were carried out Wednesday on the eve of a live internet sale of 123 paintings and sculptures by the auctioneers, who were based in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

An art expert from Greece's National Gallery who examined the works found that all 123 were "clearly" forgeries, the police statement said.

Officers raided the auction house premises and four locations where paintings were allegedly forged, and seized more than 800 other artworks whose authenticity and provenance are under investigation.

Based on the sale estimates, authorities said Thursday's planned auction was expected to have raised between 288,000 and 398,000 euros ($305,000 and 421,000).

The artworks to be sold included paintings by deceased 20th-century artists Yannis Gaitis, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas and Alekos Fassianos, according to the auction catalogue. Their work is highly popular among collectors and can command prices that run into five figures.

The three suspects, two men aged 70 and 62 and a 42-year-old woman, were charged Friday with repeated acts of forgery, as well as receiving and trying to sell products of crime.

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Murakami Tells Alma Mater He Was a ‘Terrible Student'

This picture taken on June 29, 2024 shows Japanese author Haruki Murakami posing during a photo call following a performance entitled the “Haruki Murakami produce Murakami JAM vol.3 – A hot and gentle fusion night”, at the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo. (AFP)
This picture taken on June 29, 2024 shows Japanese author Haruki Murakami posing during a photo call following a performance entitled the “Haruki Murakami produce Murakami JAM vol.3 – A hot and gentle fusion night”, at the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo. (AFP)
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Murakami Tells Alma Mater He Was a ‘Terrible Student'

This picture taken on June 29, 2024 shows Japanese author Haruki Murakami posing during a photo call following a performance entitled the “Haruki Murakami produce Murakami JAM vol.3 – A hot and gentle fusion night”, at the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo. (AFP)
This picture taken on June 29, 2024 shows Japanese author Haruki Murakami posing during a photo call following a performance entitled the “Haruki Murakami produce Murakami JAM vol.3 – A hot and gentle fusion night”, at the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo. (AFP)

Publicity-shy Japanese author Haruki Murakami told his alma mater Tuesday that he was far from being a model scholar, as he collected an honorary degree in a rare public appearance.

"It feels kind of strange being given the award, considering what a terrible student I was," said Murakami to laughter from the audience at Waseda University.

"I would skip classes and forget about studying. I was just doing whatever I wanted and causing loads of trouble to the university," the 75-year-old said.

The degree is therefore a "pretty generous gesture on Waseda's part," the novelist, dressed in academic regalia, told the rapturous audience of hundreds of admiring fans and Waseda students.

Awarding the honorary doctorate, Tokyo's prestigious Waseda University hailed the "cosmopolitan atmosphere" of Murakami's work and his ability "freewheelingly to zigzag between the real and the surreal".

The author of "Norwegian Wood" and "Kafka on the Shore" is known for his intricate tales of the absurdity and loneliness of modern life, which have been translated into about 50 languages.

Perennially tipped for a Nobel prize, Murakami is a reclusive figure and famously media-shy.

Readers of his works are drawn into the "Murakami world" where giant frogs challenge office workers in battle and mackerel rain down from the sky.

"The City and Its Uncertain Walls", his first full-length novel in six years, hit shelves in Japan last year, and copies of its English translation were released in November.

In his short, self-deprecating speech, Murakami said he had "gained absolutely nothing" from his previous six honorary doctorates -- all awarded by universities abroad -- calling them "useless".

"It's not like they come with pension money... And just because you have honorary doctorates doesn't mean your books sell," he quipped to another bout of laughter.

This is not to say, he added, that he is not grateful to his alma mater.

"Had I not enrolled in Waseda, I might have not pursued the career as a novelist at all," Murakami said, calling the award a milestone in his "life cycle".

Typical of his taciturn style, Murakami offered no clue as to what his next project will be, but he ended his speech on a bright note.

"I want to keep writing good novels," he said.