ArtInfo.com did a bit of sleuthing on the French campaign against Marble Art Invest, a UK art fund that has been accused of false dealing:

After receiving several complaints from investors about the firm, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers investigated and discovered that the company, which was based in a Paris suburb, was never authorized to do business in France, Artclair reports. The Autorité issued a statement containing this information and also warning investors that the rate of return offered by Marble Art Invest — a supposedly guaranteed 16 percent annually — was “not realistic given current interest rates.” The Autorité submitted documentation of these complaints to the French legal system and the case is expected to be taken up by the French courts.

Ten days before the Autorité des Marchés Financiers’s statement, Ouest-France, a regional newspaper in western France broke the story, reporting that a Marble Art investor from Paris, Guy Cocheteux, became suspicious of the company and decided to contact the artists in whose work he had allegedly invested. The artists “had never sold anything to Marble Art Invest,” Cocheteux said. “The artworks were virtual.” Ouest-France estimates that 250 to 350 investors have been ripped off by the company.

Art Investment Scam Fleeces Hundreds in France (Artinfo.com)