3 Emily Carr paintings among pieces seized in multimillion-dollar alleged fraud by Vancouver Island dealer

More than 1,000 pieces of fine art police say are collectively worthtens of millions of dollars including three valuableEmily Carr paintings have been seized by police during an investigation into a local art dealerinOak Bay, B.C.

On April 11, someone contacted the Saanich Police Department to report they had entrusted a local dealerwith four pieces of fine art for consignment and potential sale at an art gallery in Oak Bay, according to a statement Thursday.

The pieces were three original paintings by Emily Carr anda watercolour painting byDavid Blackwood, both renowned Canadian artists.

The owner became suspicious when the gallery recently closed and attempts to contact the art dealer had gone unanswered.

"The dealer was taking art from people with the intention of consigning or appraising the art, later ceasing all contact, all the while selling the art without reimbursing the owners or artists,"Const.Markus Anastasiadeswrotein thestatement.

Police soon found that there were several other victims that had consigned art to this dealer, and that the dealer had ceased all communications with those victimsas well.

Over the next several days, police said they carried outthree search warrants at storage sites in Saanich, Oak Bay and Langford.

More than a thousand art pieces found

As the searches progressed, police said detectivesseized more than 600 art pieces at the first site.

The next turned up more than 100pieces, and at the final site,more than 300 pieces were found, totallingmore than 1,000 artworkswith an estimated valuein the tens of millions of dollars.

The artworks are nowbeing stored at a secure location, police said.

The art dealer, whose identity, police said,cannot be released until charges are sworn in court, was arrested on April 21, and was later released on several conditions with a future court date.

The Saanich Police are recommending criminal charges against the art dealer, who could be facingmultiple counts of fraud and false pretence.

Police said detectives are communicatingwith the owners of the artworks, in an effort to return all of the artto their rightful owners.

Anyone with information or who has handed over art to the dealer is asked to contactthe Saanich Police by email atart@saanichpolice.ca.