This article has been amended. The prosecution of one of the biggest suspected art forgery rings in Europe has collapsed after testimony from a British expert that paintings that had been found were genuine. In June 2013 German police seized 1,800 works of art from Itzhak Zarug, 73, an Israeli art dealer based in Germany, including works purportedly by Kazimir Malevich, Marc Chagall, Aristarkh Lentulov and Wassili Kandinsky. The case was closed yesterday with no further action against Mr Zarug after most of the 15 expert witnesses who were called declared that they were satisfied with the authenticity of the Russian avant-garde works, which the dealer estimates to be worth up to £3 billion. One witness whose evidence supported Mr Zarug was Patricia Railing, an
Charges of art forgery against Israeli dealer Itzhak Zarug were dropped after experts declared £3bn ($4.3bn) of works he'd collected were genuine. German police jailed 73-year old Zarug after seizing 1,800 works, mainly Russian avant-garde – including paintings by Marc Chagall and Wassili Kandinsky – in 2013 believing them to be fakes. Prosecutors called in 15 experts, most of whom said the paintings were genuine, backing the findings of forensic tests.