Two men charged over fake statue

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A father aged 84 and his son have been charged over the £440,000 sale of an allegedly fake Egyptian statue.

The Amarna Princess was bought in 2003 by Bolton Council, which believed it was a 3,300-year-old antiquity.

Experts determined the 20in (51cm) sculpture was not genuine, after special tests last year.

George Greenhalgh, 84, and his son Shaun Greenhalgh from Bolton, have been charged with laundering the proceeds of sale of the statue.

The statue was said to represent one of the daughters of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti, the mother of Tutankhamun.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Art and Antiques Unit removed the artefact last March after concerns were raised.

London exhibition

Only two similar pieces are believed to exist - one is in the Louvre in Paris and the other in a museum in Philadelphia.

The council paid for the statue by securing grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the National Art Collections Fund.

The statue went on display in the town's museum after first being featured in an exhibition in London.

George Greenhalgh Snr, his wife Olive Greenhalgh, 82, and Shaun Greenhalgh are all accused of conspiracy to defraud, including allegedly selling faked and forged works of arts as genuine between 1989 and 2006.

Magistrates court

The three are also charged with money laundering fake art and antiques and the proceeds of the sales from the antiques.

George Greenhalgh Snr and Shaun Greenhalgh, face an additional charge of laundering the proceeds of the sale of the Amarna Princess.

George Greenhalgh Jnr, 52, is charged with money laundering in connection with the sale of fake arts and antiques.

The four are due to appear at Bolton Magistrates' Court on April 26.