Police seized nearly 80 pieces of forged art from a Quebec City home last week. (CBC)Quebec provincial police and the RCMP are trying to take the sheen off the increasingly sophisticated world of art theft and fraud through a special task force.

The special unit is comprised of two officers from Quebec provincial police, an RCMP officer who specializes in copyright and counterfeit money, and a civilian officer with a master's degree in art history.

The officers investigate art crimes across Canada. They also work with Interpol and the Canadian Border Services Agency to track alleged crimes with international reach.

RCMP Insp. Stéphane Bonin said the task force, the only one of its kind in Canada, is already making a difference.

At a news conference Tuesday in Montreal, Bonin pointed to the recent raid of a home belonging to an alleged member of the Hells Angels.

He said officers on the scene found a piece of metal on the door to the residence.

With some investigating, police discovered it was actually a piece of art created by one of Quebec's most renowned artists.

"That piece of metal holding a door was found to be a $75,000 [Jean-Paul] Riopelle, a bronze," said Bonin.

Police allege organized crime links

Police believe organized crime syndicates are both stealing real pieces of art and producing their own fakes as a way to launder money around the world.

Last week, the new integrated task force took its first case to court in Quebec.

A Quebec City man was charged with 75 counts of fraud, forgery and possession of goods obtained under a criminal nature after officers found close to 80 reproductions of works by Riopelle, Paul Émile Borduas and Marcelle Ferron in his home.

Police allege the man, Richard McClintock, 50, was selling the works as if they were real, for an estimated market value of $1.5 million.

In another case in November 2008, the task force worked with local police in Saint-Eustache to arrest a man who was allegedly stealing bronze sculptures from parks and buildings in the Montreal area.

A Laval man, Christian Boyer, 28, was charged with theft and possession of stolen goods.

Since 2004, Quebec provincial police have investigated more than 450 cases involving art theft, leading to 20 arrests and the seizure of close to 150 works of stolen or fraudulent art.

The integrated task force has set up an email alert system for art dealers, museums and collectors to use if they come across suspicious pieces of art.