Targeting 'elegant' bribes in crackdown

The objects do not have fixed prices and the deals are often sealed privately.

A painting at a gallery will not sport a price tag, bargaining is common at antique stores and at auctions, and bidders have only "high" or "low" estimates for reference.

With these characteristics, works of art have long been viewed as a "grey area" opportunity for corruption - making it extremely difficult to identify precisely how much an art bribe is worth.