How did Wolfgang and Helene Beltracchi create a false provenance for the so-called Flechtheim Collection?

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To create a false provenance for the so-called Flechtheim Collection, Wolfgang and Helene Beltracchi fabricated a narrative involving Helene’s grandfather, Werner Jägers. They claimed that Jägers, a resident of Cologne, had befriended the Jewish art dealer Alfred Flechtheim and purchased a group of artworks from him for a nominal fee before Flechtheim was forced to flee Nazi Germany.1

The couple went to elaborate lengths to substantiate this story:

Photographic Evidence: They staged photographs to "prove" the collection's history. Helene posed as her own grandmother in intentionally blurry, overexposed images that Wolfgang captured on authentic pre-World War II photo paper to simulate age.1
Material Authenticity: To further deceive experts, they sourced period-appropriate canvases and frames from flea markets, reusing them for their forgeries.1

This sophisticated deception allowed the Beltracchis to pass off numerous counterfeit paintings as lost masterpieces from the Flechtheim Collection, successfully tricking the international art market for years until forensic analysis of pigments eventually exposed the scheme.1