Jean de Sperati
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Jean de Sperati (1884-1957) was a French forger who had to expose his own stamp forgeries.
In 1942, when Sperati sent a package of supposedly valuable stamps to a stamp dealer in Lisbon, French customs seized it. They charged him with trying to avoid customs payments and took him to court.
In court, French criminologist Edmond Locard testified that the stamps were at least worth 223,400 French francs. In order to avoid huge fine, Sperati had to prove that the stamps were his own forgeries and therefore worthless. He confessed that he had been a successful stamp forger for the last 30 years.
The French court had other things to worry about in a middle of a German occupation and acquitted Sperati. In 1952 he was taken to court again and sentenced to two years in prison for fraud. Due to his age, he did not have to serve the sentence.
Sperati's forgeries are currently very valuable in the philatelic market.
