Librarian at Chinese university admits to replacing famous paintings with his own fakes

By LOUISE WATT, Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — A former chief librarian at a Chinese university admitted in court Tuesday to stealing more than 140 paintings by grandmasters in a gallery under his watch and replacing them with fakes he painted himself.
For two years up until 2006, Xiao Yuan substituted famous works including landscapes and calligraphies in a gallery within the library of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Details

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"Man admits swapping classic Chinese artworks for fakes he painted himself: Xiao Yuan stole 143 works from the Guanghzou Academy of Fine Arts while working as its chief librarian, making £3.5m from auction sales "
"Appearing in court on Tuesday, he claimed the practice was rampant and the handling of such paintings was not secure. Xiao said he noticed fakes already hanging in the gallery on his first day in the job. Later, after he replaced some of the remaining original works with his own fakes, he was surprised when the latter were substituted for further fake paintings." Details