Inside the $1bn art fraud trial that could topple a dynasty – Rlane Studios Gallery Site

In a wood-panelled courtroom deep within Paris’s sprawling Palais de Justice, the talk last week was of trusts and financial statements, of Old Masters and thoroughbred horses. The few spectators were outnumbered by a small army of lawyers whose words were often drowned out by the sound of police sirens blaring through an open window.

The low-key nature of the proceedings, conducted in a mix of French and English, belied the seriousness of what was at stake, however: almost a billion dollars and the future of a dynasty that has helped to shape the art market since the time of the Impressionists.

Guy Wildenstein, 77, stands accused of money laundering and tax evasion, in what one state prosecutor has called “the longest and the most