Top French art expert faces fake furniture trial

PARIS

A leading French art expert is to face trial on charges of forgery for building furniture that he falsely claimed to be from the 18th century and was sold at high prices to buyers who included the Palace of Versailles.

Bill Pallot, one of the world's leading experts on 18th century French furniture, is charged with implementing the scam between 2008-2105 in one of the biggest forgery scandals to rock the art world in recent years.

According to the trial order issued by the investigating magistrate on Nov. 13, Pallot and five others as well as a prominent gallery will face trial.

Pallot, 59, is a familiar figure in France due to his regular publications and media appearances, with his distinctive long hair and three-piece suits.

He is accused along with fellow defendant Bruno Desnoues, a prominent woodcarver, of from 2007-2008 producing and selling chairs that were falsely claimed to be historic pieces that adorned the rooms of the likes of Madame du Barry, the mistress of Louis XV, or Queen Marie-Antoinette.

Customers for the pieces included the Palace of Versailles and the scam continued unnoticed for years despite the warning signs until investigators finally noticed abnormalities from 2014.

When the full scandal erupted in 2016, the ministry of culture swiftly ordered an audit of Versailles' acquisitions policy.

The scandal is not the only one to rock the rarefied world of France's top museums in recent years.

The former director of the Louvre Museum, Jean-Luc Martinez, was charged last year with conspiring to hide the origin of archaeological treasures that investigators suspect were smuggled out of Egypt in the chaos of the Arab Spring.

France's Court of Cassation on Nov. 15 rejected an appeal brought by Martinez to have the charges dropped.