Fake £1m statue: Bail extended for trio
9:54am Thursday 1st March 2007 in News By Staff Reporter
THREE people arrested over the sale of a fake £1 million statue to Bolton Museum have had their bail extended by police for the fifth time.
A man, aged 83, and his 46-year-old son, both of Bromley Cross, and an a woman, aged 82, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering in connection with the sale of the Amarna Princess statue. The three have been bailed until April.
The 20-inch statue was thought to date back to 1350BC and depicts a daughter of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti, who was the mother of the legendary boy-king, Tutankhamun.
Bolton Council bought the Amarna Princess for £440,000 in 2003, claiming its actual worth was nearer £1 million. It was discovered to be a fake last year.
