‘Smuggler’ drew up fake receipt to get a Picasso Vat-free

A DRAWING by Picasso worth about £400,000 has been seized from a passenger flying into Spain who tried to claim it was a cheap copy, apparently to avoid paying VAT.

According to Spain’s customs office, the unnamed man caught a plane from Zurich to Ibiza with a sketch of three women by Pablo Picasso called Trois personnages in his suitcase.

Officers in Zurich had tipped off their Spanish counterparts about the man’s suspicious behaviour and his luggage, prompting authorities to challenge him when he landed.

The suspect first showed police a handwritten receipt for 1,500 Swiss francs (£1,280) and said he had bought a copy of a Picasso sketch.

But when officers searched his luggage they found another invoice made out for 450,000 Swiss francs (£384,000) to a Zurich gallery as payment for the 1966 work. He should also have paid VAT at a rate of 10 per cent.

The suspect could now face charges of smuggling, given that he failed to declare an item worth more than €150,000.