Antique fraudster foiled by Poundland notebook

A fraudster who tried to sell a fake Greek antique for £100,000 was caught out by a sham document written in a Poundland notebook.

Aleksander Ribnikov, 59, approached Timeline Auctions Ltd in Essex with a fake Greek patera in November last year, claiming to have bought it in 1987. However, it was found that the provenance document was written in a notebook that had only been produced after 2013.

Ribnikov, of Feltham, south-west London, admitted two counts of fraud by false representation. He received a two-year suspended sentence at Isleworth Crown Court.