The art dealer Giuliano Ruffini, who is the suspected mastermind of a major Old Master forgery scandal, was arrested on 18 November in northern Italy, according to local media. Initial reports detailed a man who matched Ruffini's exact description; subsequent reports published on 19 November confirmed the man to be Ruffini.
On 30 November the Carabinieri released Ruffini after he had spent ten days in custody, according to an official source. This followed a ruling by the Court of Appeal in Milan which considered that there was no need to keep Ruffini in custody for more than ten days. However, his transfer to France, as requested by the investigating judge, might still be executed.
The Italian newspaper Stampa Reggiana first reported that the Carabinieri in the town of Castelnovo ne' Monti, not far from Ruffini's residence in Reggio Emilia, had arrested an unnamed "77-year-old art critic" living there, wanted by French police for "fraud, money laundering and forgery of works of art", according to an arrest warrant dated 14 July 2019. All this information corresponded to Ruffini and the European warrant for his arrest issued by a Paris judge, Aude Buresi. Ruffini's identity was later confirmed by local media.
"Having learned from the newspapers that he was wanted, the person concerned, through his lawyer, informed the commander of the Castelnovo Monti unit that he wanted to turn himself in, and so he did, presenting himself in the late morning to the Carabinieri," wrote Stampa Reggiana.
Last week The Art Newspaper reported that the authorities were looking for Ruffini and could not find him. His arrest warrant had been delayed by the Italian Supreme Court until the conclusion of a fiscal procedure against him. He was subsequently cleared of income tax fraud by the court.
Ruffini has always maintained his innocence in the forgery case, claiming that the paintings were not forged and that their attribution to Old Masters was the responsibility of the experts, curators and dealers who authenticated them.
