Experts claim that art crime is the third most lucrative form of organised crime in the world, after drugs and arms. Belgium is notorious as a pivotal point for all forms of illicit trafficking, from human beings to stolen cars, and including art and antiques. “In a good year, we recover about 10% of stolen works and make about 10 to 15 arrests.”

Despite the public’s interest in the subject, as evidenced by participation in the latest Heritage Day, which took fakes as its theme, Belgium’s efforts to curb the crime are modest. “Nobody in Belgium is interested – not the parliament, and not the prosecutors,” Poels says. “In Italy they have a squad of 250, and the French also take it extremely seriously. Here, art crime is the lowest of the low priorities.”

So much so that when I ask for some figures, he’s unable to supply them. “We don’t have reliable figures because art crime is not prosecuted as such. For Belgian law, there’s no difference between stealing a pair of jeans and stealing a painting by Magritte: they both count simply as theft. The same goes for dealing in stolen goods. The Italians and the French, as well as the Greeks, keep figures religiously, but Belgium doesn’t.”

Poels (pictured) makes a distinction between those who sell forgeries and those who actually make them. The former is more common because it’s easier to do. A dealer finds a painting that looks a bit like Permeke, for example, and puts a signature on it. Sellers like Stan Lauryssens choose their customers carefully and don’t put the fake in front of someone who’s likely to be able to spot it.

Particular to Belgium are small auction houses, most of them owned by one of four families, which hold sales in small towns and target people unlikely to know much about art. “People are blinded by the auctioneer or even by a pretty frame, and they end up buying posters as real artworks, or cheap copies of statues from China or Spain. Three years ago we closed down one auction house and seized 80% of their stock as fake. Another house was selling statues by [Romanian Art Deco style sculptor] Demetre Chiparus, normally worth €100,000 to €150,000, for €50,000. In fact, they were fakes, worth about €200 at the most.”

If you’re in the market for art, there are a few tips you can follow, Poels says. “A lot of fakes go unnoticed because the owners can’t or won’t invest in research techniques. But anyone can go to an art expert and ask for an opinion. Look around and study the sort of object you want to buy. If you’re thinking of investing a large amount, get an expert to make a stylistic study, which is enough to expose a lot of fakes.”

The other safeguard is provenance. For important works of art, a reputable dealer ought to be able to provide a provenance – the work’s documentation including its travels and its various owners. “Provenance is very important,” Poels agrees, “but there is no law obliging a dealer in Belgium to give you one. If I go to Maastricht, I’ll get one by right, but in Brussels and Antwerp, they don’t have to give you one.”

Best of all, remember the old-fashioned advice: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. “The golden rule is in dubio abstine,” Poels says. “If in doubt, walk away.”