New information has been released by a little-known Canadian federal agency about its staffers’ years-long effort to contribute to a police investigation into fraudsters selling faked paintings supposedly by Indigenous Canadian artist Norval Morrisseau.

CityNews Toronto reports that the largest art fraud case in the history of Canada took at least 1,000 fakes off the market, though there may be thousands more still in private hands. The case made headlines internationally, but the contribution by the Canadian Conservation Institute, an obscure part of the Heritage Department, was previously unreported. The Institute assists some 2,700 museums, libraries, and archival organizations, and, in this case, assisted the Ontario Provincial Police, exposing fakes and ultimately testifying for the prosecution in the trial of one of the fraudsters.