The wheels of justice continue to grind slowly with the direct indictment of three southern Ontario men, charged in connection with a fraudulent art ring, in Ontario Superior Court.
In early 2023, Ontario Provincial Police and the Thunder Bay Police Service announced they had busted an alleged art ring they say is responsible for an “apparent decades-long art fraud” that resulted in the manufacture and distribution of more than 1,000 paintings being passed off as Morrisseau's work.
Police have said more than 1,000 alleged fraudulent paintings, prints and other artworks were seized. Some of the paintings sold for tens of thousands of dollars. Ontario Superior Court heard in the agreed statement of facts in Lamont’s case that, between 2002 and 2019, he oversaw the production of numerous Morrisseau forgeries, which were then sold to mostly intermediaries before being sold to private collectors and galleries.