Authorities in the United States have arrested and charged three men in connection with an art dealing scam which made then men $33 million over the past 20 years. The men are said to have made and sold paintings that they claimed to have been original pieces painted by some of the world’s most famous artists.

Some of the fake art pieces were said to have been painted by world renowned artists like Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock and were sold to collectors for millions of dollars. Two brothers, Jesus Angel Bergantinos Diaz and Jose Carlos Bergantinos Diaz were arrested recently in Spain and a Chinese painter named Pei Shen Qian who allegedly made the fake paintings is understood to have now fled to China.

Speaking about the case, Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said “The defendants tricked victims into paying more than $33m for worthless paintings which they fabricated in the names of world-famous artists. The Bergantinos Diaz brothers then laundered and hid their illegal proceeds overseas. With today’s Indictment, the defendants must now answer for their alleged roles as modern masters of forgery and deceit.”