Documentary series on Canal+ explores notorious César forger Éric Piedoie Le Tiec's criminal art career

In 2026, Canal+ launched the six-part documentary series 'Fake You: Une vraie histoire de faux,' which explores the forgery ring linked to French sculptor César Baldaccini. The series, helmed by Laurent Jaoui and Raphaël Rouyer, focuses on Éric Piedoie Le Tiec, a master forger born in 1955, who commenced his forgery sales in 1979. Following César's death in 1998, he specialized in creating imitations, amassing around 20 million euros from counterfeit artworks. The scheme collapsed after a gallery heist in 2001 prompted police monitoring. In 2009, Le Tiec was sentenced to four years, while Villa received three years and Marciano a suspended sentence of one year. Le Tiec passed away in 2021, and Villa and Marciano transitioned to legitimate art dealings. The documentary raises concerns about the prevalence of forgeries still in existence.