The true crime case of a maverick art dealer who executed The $50m Art Swindle

Watch this BBC documentary about Michel Cohen, a high school drop-out who rose to become a top art dealer, and then swindled his clients.

Watch $50 Million Dollar Art Swindle and more acclaimed documentaries on BBC Select today. Restrictions apply*.

$50 Million Dollar Art Swindle on BBC Select

Michel Cohen sold paintings by Picasso, Chagall and Monet to America’s elite. But after running up debts, he swindled his customers out of more than $50 million and then went on the run.

The FBI couldn’t find him, but filmmaker Vanessa Engle tracks Cohen down and persuades him to tell his extraordinary story.

More documentaries you might like...

Subscribe to BBC Select for hundreds of hours of thought - provoking, award-winning and critically-acclaimed documentaries from the BBC and beyond.

Stream Look Away on BBC Select

Look Away

Decades of coercion and sexual abuse within the music industry are investigated.

Stream Married to a Psychopath on BBC Select

Married to a Psychopath

The gripping true crime story of a detective's relentless pursuit of a ruthless killer.

Taken: Hunting the Sex Traffickers

Can a secret police investigation find the masterminds behind a human trafficking gang?

The Ice Cream Wars

The Ice Cream Wars

The story of one of Scotland's most brutal crimes and a 20-year fight for justice.

Who Killed Lin and Megan?

Who Killed Lin and Megan?

Could a serial killer be responsible for a vicious murder? Is the wrong man in jail?

Ransom

Ransom

How an extortionist and murderer evaded capture following the kidnapping of a young woman.

National Security: The Treholt Story

National Security: The Treholt Story

The thrilling story of Arne Treholt, a diplomat accused and imprisoned for espionage.

Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop

Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop

How did a Japanese music legend avoid years of serious sexual abuse allegations?

The Hooded men

The Hooded Men: Britain's Torture Playbook

Fourteen men tortured by the British in Northern Ireland still await an apology.

The Murder of Grace Millane: Social Media Murders

What role did social media play in the tragic death of British backpacker Grace Millane?

Image of the home of the bambers

The Bambers: Murder At The Farm

Jeremy Bamber was convicted of killing his whole family. But is there more to the murder?

A silencer gun pointed at the white house

A Murder In Washington

An investigation into Seth Rich, a young staffer working for the Democrats, who was shot.

One Bullet In Belize

The story of a murdered cop and the socialite who fired the gun

Untold: The Muder of James Bulger

Image of a shadow of two sil

Untold: The Murder of James Bulger

This is the inside story of the murder of toddler James Bulger.

Untold: The Wests

Image of shovel in the dirt with police tape across the image

Untold: The Wests

It’s one of Britain’s most notorious crimes: a killer couple living in a house of horrors. The 12 women killing spree went undiscovered for years. With exclusive witness testimony and rarely seen archival footage, this definitive true crime documentary reveals the true horror of The Wests. Told by those who lived it, this is the story of how an innocuous couple became notorious killers.

Watch Who Killed The Princes in the Tower? on BBC Select

Who Killed The Princes in the Tower?

Did King Richard III murder two princes to ruthlessly gain the crown of England?

Stream Louis Theroux: Dark States - Murder in Milwaukee on BBC Select

Louis Theroux: Dark States - Murder in Milwaukee

Louis Theroux is in Milwaukee to investigate the city's spiraling homicide rate.

The Trial of Louise Woodward

Exploring the trial that gripped America, 25 years on

Image of someone looking out of a window with bars on it

Life and Death Row

A look at what it's like to live on death row

Watch Jack the Ripper The Case Reopened

Jack the Ripper - The Case Reopened

Casting a new light on the Jack the Ripper case

Stream House of Maxwell on BBC Select

House of Maxwell

How the Maxwells, from father Robert to daughter Ghislaine, became embroiled in scandal.

I Shot My Parents

This true crime film asks, what drove a 14-year-old boy to try and kill both his parents?

Watch When Louis Met ... Jimmy Savile on BBC Select

When Louis Met ... Jimmy Savile

Louis Theroux looks for a crack under the mask of now-disgraced celebrity Jimmy Savile

Watch When Louis Met ... Jimmy Savile on BBC Select

Louis Theroux: Jimmy Savile Revisited

Louis Theroux scrutinizes his relationship with disgraced entertainer Jimmy Savile

Watch Secrets of the Falklands on BBC Select

Secrets of the Falklands

A Royal Marine walks out of a bar ... and disappears without a trace.

Murder in the Badlands

Four young women. Four decades. Four brutal murders. All unsolved.

Love and Hate Crime Season 2

Love and Hate Crime

An investigation into hate crimes committed against those singled out as "different" in the U.S

Stream Catching the Black Cab Rapist on BBC Select

Catching The Black Cab Rapist

John Worboys preyed on the women of London, drugging, raping and sexually assaulting over 100 victims in his taxi cab between 2000 and 2008.

Watch A Very British Murder on BBC Select

A Very British Murder

Lucy Worsley investigates why we are so fascinated by grisly, gruesome murders

Stream Crime & Punishment on BBC Select

Crime and Punishment

The disturbing true crime documentary series about the UK criminal justice system returns.

Stream Dark Son - Hunt for a Serial Killer on BBC Select

Dark Son: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

The fascinating story of the biggest unsolved serial murder in British criminal history.

Stream The Murder Detectives on BBC Select

The Murder Detectives

You’re in the room as detectives and suspects unravel a real-life murder mystery.

Stream Confessions of a Serial Killer on BBC Select

Confessions of a Serial Killer

Meet Samuel Little. One of America’s most dangerous killers.

BBC Select free trial

BBC Select is available on Amazon Prime Video Channels and the Apple TV app for only $6.99 a month. Start a 30-day free trial and watch a range of acclaimed documentaries from the BBC and beyond. Restrictions apply*.