Romanian woman arrested in Rotterdam over art theft
Monday 04 March 2013 A 19-year-old Romanian woman has been arrested in Rotterdam in connection with last October’s theft of seven very valuable paintings from the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. She is being held on suspicion of possessing the paintings, including works by Matisse and Picasso, in the period after the robbery.
Police think the paintings were taken to a property in Rotterdam where the woman lived. There the paintings may have been removed from their frames, police said.
The woman is the said to be the girlfriend of a 28-year-old Romanian arrested in Romania in January. He, plus two other men aged 23 and 25, are in custody in Romania.
Raid
The seven paintings were stolen during a lightning raid on the gallery in October last year. The total value of the haul was put by some experts at up to €100m.
This weekend, there were reports from Romania that two of the paintings may have been burned.
The mother of one of the main suspects told local broadcaster Antena3 she had destroyed the paintings to help her son. Rotterdam police said later there is no evidence to suggest this is true.
Art Hostage Comments:
First yesterday the Stradivarius violin recovered in Bulgaria, now further links to Romania about Rotterdam Kunthstal Art Heist. Next January, 2014, when Romanian and Bulgarian nationals have freedom of movement around Europe expect a crime wave to hit like a tsunami.
Furthermore, people will steal art, they always have and always will.
Whilst there can be good and valid reasons not to offer any money for recovering stolen art, be that by way of reward, which we all know are bogus in any case, or by way of a fee, the net result, as may be proved in this case, is the stolen art never gets recovered, or worse still, is destroyed. Case in point was the raid on the museum in Paris a few years ago when five paintings were taken valued at over $100 million and the thieves, whilst caught, panicked and alleged to have destroyed the paintings by discarding them in the rubbish, see the story from October 2011 below: http://arthostage.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/stolen-art-watch-musee-dart-moderne.html
Perhaps it may take the insurance companies taking huge hits on stolen art that never gets recovered or is destroyed to provoke renewed offers of money for the recovery of stolen art, not the historical bogus reward offers, but a fee for information that leads to the recovery of said stolen art. Just a thought !!
Rembrandt's "Portrait of the Father" was found on Monday during a police operation in Sremska Mitrovica, some 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of Belgrade, a spokesman said. Four people have also been arrested.
The masterpiece was stolen from a museum in the northern town of Novi Sad, 70 kilometres from the capital, with three other works.
Four people were arrested during the operation, the spokeswoman said.
The painting, which the museum estimated was worth 2.5 million pounds (2.8 million euros, $3.7 million), was stolen in January 2006. It had already been stolen 10 years earlier but was recovered in Spain.
The work is 28 x 22.5 centimetres (11 x nine inches) in size and was painted around 1630.
The other paintings stolen from the Novi Sad City Museum in 2006 were a Rubens, a piece by Francesco Mola from the 17th century, and another by an unknown German-Dutch artist from the 16th century. At the time police said that two masked and armed robbers broke into the museum and tied up two employees on duty before making off with the paintings. None of the other works has been recovered.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, who lived from 1606 to 1669, is considered one of Europe's greatest Baroque painters and his country's most important. Source: AFP
The three Romanians charged which stealing seven valuable paintings from Rotterdam’s Kunsthal museum last October want to be tried in the Netherlands, their lawyer has told the Telegraaf. Earlier this week it emerged the Dutch public prosecution department had decided not to begin proceedings to have the men extradited, saying they would go on trial in Romania. Dutch legal experts said this was a very usual step. But the men’s lawyer Bogdan Cimbru told the Telegraaf if they are not tried in the Netherlands ‘the paintings will never be recovered’. 'They have made this very clear,' the lawyer said. The men are worried about spending time in a Romanian prison and do not think they will get a fair trial, Cimbru told the paper. They want to agree a deal with the public prosecutor, he said.
Minutes The heist took place on October 16 in just a few minutes. Works by Monet, Picasso, Matisse and Gauguin were among the seven stolen. A 19-year-old Romanian woman will face trial in Netherlands. She is being held on suspicion of possessing the paintings in the period after the robbery. Police think the paintings were taken to a property in Rotterdam where the woman lived. There the paintings may have been removed from their frames.
German police arrest man in connection with Kunsthal heist
German police have arrested a man in connection with October's art heist from Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum, Dutch media report on Thursday afternoon.
The Cologne public prosecution service says the man was attempting to blackmail the Triton foundation, which owns six of the paintings, news agency ANP reported. The foundation lent the works to the Kunsthal as part of an exhibition to celebrate the gallery's 20th anniversary.
It is not clear how much money the man was demanding or if he was bluffing, ANP said. No trace has been found of the paintings since the October heist.
The man, a 46-year-old German national, is said to have met representatives of Triton at the end of last year in Cologne. Police got wind of the meeting and started an investigation, ANP said.
Experts on stolen art such as Britain’s Art Loss Register say that thieves often don’t understand how difficult it is to sell easily identifiable paintings by famous artists. After thieves are unable to dispose of them for anything resembling their value at auction, they frequently attempt to ransom them back to their owners.
But Bremer said there were still a lot of questions surrounding the German suspect — including whether he might be a scam artist with no connection to the paintings.
“He said he had access to the paintings but whether he was really part of the theft ring or had contact to them and to the paintings, or whether he was some sort of a free-rider, is part of our investigation,” Bremer said.
Bremer said his office was involved because the suspect had contact with two lawyers in the Cologne area — both by telephone and in person. Both were “involved in offering the return of the paintings” but neither have been arrested. “What role the two attorneys played is part of the investigation,” he said.
Dutch national broadcaster NOS news reported that representatives of the Triton Foundation had met with the lawyers in late 2012, then notified the police.
Bremer said the suspect will be transferred to Cologne within several days. He said his office had been investigating the case since November 2012.
Three Romanian nationals face trial in Romania for stealing the paintings, which include works by Matisse, Monet and Picasso. A 19-year-old Romanian woman has also been arrested in Rotterdam.
Two young men who were involved in the theft of the Wenlok Jug were sentenced to a total of eight years in prison at Luton Crown Court today (March 15).
Ronald Nash, 23, from Tadworth in Surrey, pleaded guilty to handling stolen property and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and was given a three years and three months prison sentence. Louis Kybert, 25, of Barnstead in Surrey, pleaded guilty to the possession of two stun guns which were disguised as moblie phones, and being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. He was given a five year prison sentence with a concurrent three month sentence for breaking a previous suspended sentence. Sentencing Nash, Judge Joanne Harris said: “It’s clear to me that there are criminals who are far more experienced that you higher up the chain in terms of these offences. I take into account that you have gone into something way above your head.” Judge Harris described the Wenlok Jug, which is worth over £1 million, as “part of our national heritage”, and said the impact of the theft on the local community on May 12 last year had been huge. Nash was arrested and charged following an indepth investigation including an appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch. He was described by family friend Anthony Hart as a “very cheeky” young man with learning difficulties who had attended a special school. The Wenlok Jug was found wrapped in a towel in a holdall at Nash’s rented garage in Epsom, Surrey. Police also discovered cutting agents for drugs, traces of MDMA, cocaine and methamphetamine, other drug paraphenalia, body armour and disguised stun guns which Kybert took responsibility for. The judge said Nash’s behaviour was “reckless”, and said it was clear both men were “frightened of people higher up the food chain” as Nash had been very vague about how the Wenlok Jug and other items came to be in his garage. The Wenlok Jug: The wenlok was stolen from a glass case in the stockwood discovery centre in stockwood park, Luton on may 12, 2012. it was made between 1400-1500ad and is of enourmous historical significance to luton. it’s believed the jug was given to the wenlok family of luton - possibly william wenlock who died in 1391 and is buried under st mary’s parish church. the museum purchased the jug for £750,000 in 2006, and it is now valued at over £1 million. the bronze jug weighs 61kg and is inscribed with the words ‘My lord wenlok’
A £1m rare medieval jug stolen from a Luton museum was found in a rented lock up in Epsom wrapped in a towel between two stacks of tyres, a court has heard.
How the bronze Wenlock jug, which dates back to the 1400's came to be there remains a mystery, but although it has been returned to the Stockwood Discovery Centre, it can no longer be displayed because of the cost of insuring it. The man who admits handling the jug, 23 year-old Ronald Nash was today (Fri 15th Mar) has been jailed for a total of three years and three months at Luton Crown Court. His sentence included one year for being concerned in the supply of cocaine, with two years and three months consecutive for handling stolen goods. He pleaded guilty to both charges. He was told by Judge Laura Harris: "It is not only the monetary value of the jug, but it is a national heritage item. "Individuals far more sophisticated than you, higher up the chain were involved in this matter. You have got into something way over your head." The Wenlock Jug is a national treasure, and one of only three in the UK. It is made of bronze and stands 31.5 cm tall and weighs 6.1 kg and is decorated with coats of arms, badges and the inscription 'My Lord Wenlock'. It is thought the jug was made for either William Wenlock who died in 1391 and is buried in Luton and was a Canon at St. Paul's Cathedral or his great nephew John, the first Lord Wenlock who lived near Luton and had associations with royalty. It was bought in 2006 by the Stockwood Discovery Centre for £750,000 with help from various trusts and private donations, which saved it from being sold abroad. It was displayed in a high security cabinet which was smashed with a drain cover by the burglar on Saturday May 12 after 11pm. The raider was caught on cctv but with his face concealed. The theft was featured on the tv Crimewatch programme and insurers offered a £25,000 reward for its return. Following a covert investigation by Bedfordshire police it was found on Sept 24 last year at a lock up garage rented by Nash in Michelham Gardens, Epsom. Prosecutor, Miss Fayza Benlamkadem, said there was evidence that the lock up was being used for packaging Class A drugs. Traces of cocaine and Ecstacy were found there along with cutting agents and other paraphernalia. Police also discovered two stun guns, disguised as mobile phones and body armour. Before the court were Ronald Nash, 23 of Pitwood Green, Tadworth, Surrey who pleaded guilty to handling the stolen jug, and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. Louis Kybert, 25 of Ferndale Road, Banstead, Surry pleaded guilty to the possession of two stun guns and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. He was arrested by officers during the search for the jug. He was jailed for five years. Miss Benlamkadem read an impact statement to the court from Karen Perkins the director of Luton Museums. In it she said: "It was wonderful to get the jug back, it had been totally devastating for staff and visitors." But she said the knock on effect had been that other valuable items had had to be removed from display, and there was now a significant increase in the cost of security which effected services that could be provided for the local community. Abigail Penny for Nash said; "The jug was so valuable it was probably unsaleable, but given his naivety he did not understand the value or the historical significance of the item. "He has not given information to police because he is genuinely frightened." Katie Spears for Kybert said: "There were pressures on him from external influences. It is very surprising that he got into this situation, it has changed the course of his life." She said there was no evidence the stun guns had been used, and said they were of less voltage that a police Tasar. But Judge Harris said because the weapons were found in association with drug activity there had to be a minimum five year prison sentence.
Bulgaria raid violin not stolen £1.2m Stradivarius
A violin recovered during a police raid in Bulgaria is not the 17th Century Stradivarius which was stolen from a musician in London, officers said.
The £1.2m Stradivarius and two bows were stolen from classical musician Min-Jin Kym while she was in a cafe at Euston station in November 2010. Experts believe the recovered violin is a replica used for training, British Transport Police (BTP) said. John Maughan admitted theft in 2011 but the 1696 violin has not been found. 'Low resale value' The Korean-born musician, who has played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was due to board a train to Manchester and was buying a sandwich at Euston station when the case containing the instrument was taken from her. The stolen case also contained two bows - a Peccatte bow valued at £62,000 and another made by the School of Bazin which was valued at more than £5,000. Maughan, of no fixed address, was jailed for four years. Two boys, then aged 15 and 16, also admitted the theft in March 2011. A £30,000 reward is being offered by insurance company Lark Insurance Broking Group for information leading to the recovery of the "irreplaceable instrument".
Det Ch Insp Simon Taylor said: "After a violin bearing Stradivarius markings was recovered in Bulgaria on Wednesday 27 February, we worked closely with underwriters, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Bulgarian police, through Interpol, to establish if it was the 1696 Antonio Stradivarius taken from Euston in 2010. "Experts examined the instrument in Sofia and it is thought to be a replica training violin, made in either Germany or the modern-day Czech Republic no more than 100 years ago." He said that although the violin and the bows are "extremely valuable, their uniqueness means their sell-on value, in monetary terms, is very low". "They can't be sold for anything near to their true value because an arts and antiques or instrument dealer would easily recognise them as stolen property".
Art Hostage Comments: Warning, Warning, Warning Now we know this violin is a fake, from now on anyone, I repeat anyone offering money or the bogus reward for the real Stradivarius violin will be Undercover Police and as soon as the violin is revealed Police will swoop and arrest all those within a five mile radius. If you have information as to the possible whereabouts of the real Stradivarius violin then contact Art Hostage who will make sure you will be told the truth of how to go about collecting a fee for recovery, not the bogus reward offer, and if no fee is available then you will be told of that fact before you commit yourself and fall foul of the inevitable undercover Police sting operation. Lark Insurance are under strict instructions to pass any information they receive about the Stradivarius violin straight to Police so remember that before contacting Lark Insurance Broking Group.
Trusted nanny jailed for stealing £30,000 of antiques from Duke of Wellington's youngest son despite being treated like 'part of the family'
Sarah Hallcup worked for aristocratic Wellesley family for four years
Was so close to Lady Wellesley she asked her to be son's godmother
But helped her boyfriend break in to their country house in Hampshire
Sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to commit burglary
A trusted nanny who worked for the Duke of Wellington’s youngest son was jailed yesterday for helping her lover ransack his country home. Sarah Hallcup was treated as part of the family by Lord Christopher Wellesley, 48, and his wife Emma. They were so close that Lady Wellesley, 36, became godmother to unmarried Hallcup’s 19-month-old son. But while the Wellesleys and their three children were on holiday, she helped her boyfriend steal heirlooms worth £30,000 from Top Hill House, the family’s £1million three-storey mansion in Heckfield, Hampshire, a court heard. The haul taken by Hallcup, 28, and Neal Akhtar, 27, included paintings, a Cartier clock, a pair of silver pheasants worth £250 and busts of Lord Wellesley’s famous ancestor, the first Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. The pair also ransacked the small one-bedroom annexe where Hallcup lived in an attempt to make it look like a break-in. But detectives became suspicious when they could find no sign of a forced entry and Hallcup, who had worked for the family for four years, showed no concern about the burglary. Akhtar was arrested after his fingerprints were found in the house. Officers discovered pictures of the haul on his mobile phone and camera, as well as records of contact with antiques dealers about selling some of the goods. Hallcup was arrested after admitting she and Akhtar were in a relationship. Police discovered texts between the pair about ‘robbing the mansion’ while she had used her phone to carry out an internet search for the value of the clock. Messages from Akhtar’s BlackBerry showed he had offered the stolen goods for sale to antiques dealers and he had also tried to sell some of the haul to his uncle. Many of the items taken, including a Tiffany-style bracelet with the inscription ‘E love M’ belonging to Lady Wellesley, have never been recovered.
Hallcup had denied involvement in the raid in July last year but was convicted last month of conspiracy to burgle. Jailing her for two years at Winchester Crown Court yesterday, Judge Andrew Barnett said: ‘You were a trusted nanny who became a family friend. ‘They trusted you to look after their property and it was a trust which you breached and, in effect, betrayed. ‘The effect that this burglary had upon the Wellesley family was truly devastating.’
Akhtar, from Reading, who has previous convictions for burglary, admitted conspiracy to burgle and was jailed for three years. Scott Allaway, 27, also from Reading, who admitted driving away the haul in his van, was jailed for 18 months for handling stolen goods. Prosecutor Kerry Maylin said the Wellesley family had been left ‘devastated’ by the burglary and the loss of treasured possessions. ‘The items were of enormous sentimental value to Lady Wellesley,’ she said. ‘She is very clearly devastated, both for herself and for her family whose home was violated.’ Anthony Harrison, for Hallcup, said that while she was not put under duress there was ‘pressure and persistence’ from Akhtar to commit the offence.
Art by Picasso, Chagall is stolen from house near Barto
Antiques, arrow heads, and valuable artwork was stolen from a Berks County home Monday afternoon and police are asking the public to help them find the culprit.
Burglars forced their way into a home in the 200 block of Gehringer Road between 3 and 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 5, and stole several antiques; the arrowheads; a rolamonica, or roll harmonica that works like a player piano; and several prints by Picasso and a silk screen by Chagall.
The owner of the antiques said that a carved shell cameo and a Little Black Sambo alarm clock were also taken.
One of the Picasso prints is titled “#5” and it is dated from 1954, according to the owner.
Police are asking anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area at the time to contact the Reading barracks of the state police at 610-378-4011 and ask for Trooper Brownback. To give an anonymous tip, call Crime Alert Berks County at 877-373-9913. A cash reward up to $5,000 may be given to those who call with information that leads to an arrest and indictment of those responsible.
Peter Battle murder: Were these coins stolen?
Police investigating the murder of antiques dealer Peter Battle have released photographs of items of property which may have been stolen from his home in East Yorkshire. Mr Battle's body was found a whisker Cottage in Full Sutton on February 7th this year. The items in question are described as Official ECU coins and are displayed in a presentation box. Detective Chief Inspector Alistair McFarlane said: “In order to establish if these coins were ever the property of Peter Battle, we are keen to trace anyone who may have sold similar coins to him or can identify the coins in the pictures as being the ones they sold to Mr Battle." Anyone able to help is asked to contact Humberside Police’s incident room on 01377 208989.
Court orders freeze of Gram jewellers assets
A court had ordered the freezing of all assets belonging to jeweller George Tabone and his companies Gram Collections Ltd, Gram Jewellers Ltd and Gram Holdings Ltd. The decision was taken by Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano at the request of the Attorney General. Mr Tabone was last week accused of handling stolen property after he allegedly bought €350,000 worth of stolen jewellery. He denied the charges.
The jewellery was stolen from Piazza Antiques Ltd in August 2011. Piazza Antiques owner Alfred Borg had told the court that in August 2011 he received a call from the police about a theft from his shop. On arriving, he drew up a list of what was missing and gave it to the police. The value of the missing items was more than €500,000. Nothing was ever recovered. Glen Debattista, one of three people who had broken into Mr Borg’s shop, said that after the theft they (the thieves) had gone to a house and split everything between them. He said that he sold his and his son’s share to the accused. He had gone to his shop in Birkirkara about four times. The items were carried in a Lidl shopping bag. He said that they had told the jeweller that the items were stolen and they were sold to him in four lots. Mr Tabone would switch off the CCTV before each visit. During the hearing, Mr Tabone could at one point be seen sniggering to himself and shaking his head. A ban on publication of Mr Tabone's name was lifted by Mr Justice Quintano today.
Pentagon City Rolex Theft: 23 Watches Worth $600k Stolen From Northern Virginia Tourneau Watch Store
ARLINGTON, Va. — Police say four masked men entered a suburban Washington, D.C., jewelry store, shattered a glass display case with a hammer and made off with 23 Rolex watches worth more than $600,000. Tuesday's heist at the Fashion Centre at northern Virginia's Pentagon City Mall took about 30 seconds. Police say the suspects fled in a car driven by a fifth person. It was the second smash-and-grab crime reported by authorities at the mall in two months. On Feb. 4, four masked men walked into another jewelry store at the Fashion Centre, shattered a display case with hammers and made off with $128,000 in rings. The men fled in a car driven by a fifth person. Police have not said if they believe the two crimes are related.
Baron's life of luxury – the English gent who ran drug empire from here
A DRUGS LORD who faces spending the rest of his life in an English jail was living an amazing double life in Ireland for years.
Philip Baron once rubbed shoulders with Ireland's leading businessmen and top bankers while living a life of luxury at his mansion beside the K Club in Co Kildare. The man who looked every inch the well-educated, well-heeled English gentleman turned out to be an international drugs trafficker. The 57-year-old worked hand-in-hand with the so-called 'Dapper Don' Christy Kinahan – the overlord of Irish crime and the State's biggest drugs dealer. He now faces spending the rest of his life behind bars after an English court heard yesterday he was the leader of a gang that spent 15 years importing vast amounts of drugs into the UK to fund their lavish champagne lifestyles. He pleaded guilty to smuggling cocaine and cannabis.
Yachts From his plush base in Co Kildare, he was a kingpin in an international ring that owned yachts and sports cars as well as luxury villas in Spain, all funded by drugs money. Senior gardai have confirmed that Baron "generally was not involved with supplying Irish gangs". But he was linked to some of our mobs, including a major cocaine crew led by a criminal based in Drimnagh who is currently a major target for the Criminal Assets Bureau. Like Baron, this Drimnagh-based criminal – originally from Cabra – did not come on to the Garda radar for years. Yesterday in court it emerged that while authorities in Ireland thought Baron ran a company that rented deckchairs in Spain, he was actually a key figure in the international drugs importing ring. The gang smuggled around 52 tonnes of drugs over 15 years and laundered millions of pounds of their illegal profits. Elizabeth Jenkins, from the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK, said of Baron: "He thought he was beyond the reach of the judicial process in this country and continued to conduct his criminal activity from abroad.
Diamond mine director admits €29m drug charge
THE director of a diamond mining company has admitted possession of €29m worth of cocaine.
Gareth Hopkins (33) pleaded guilty to possession of the drug for sale or supply at Ballycoolin, west Dublin and at Beech, Leixlip, Co Kildare, on June 26, 2012. About 400kg of cocaine were seized during a joint operation by gardai and customs officers in what was the biggest inland cocaine find ever made in Ireland. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that Hopkins, with addresses at Carnlough Road, Cabra, and Leixlip, was director of a recycling company, a diamond mining company in Sierra Leone and had interests in a Polish tobacco company. Storage Gardai had claimed in the District Court that he was involved in the large-scale importation of cocaine from South America, which was shipped to Ireland hidden inside lengths of timber. They also alleged Hopkins was responsible for the storage and distribution of the drug, as well as extracting the cocaine from the wood. Yesterday, Judge Mary Ellen Ring remanded him in custody until sentencing in May. Hopkins was previously refused bail after gardai argued he was a flight risk. It is understood that he only came to the notice of gardai earlier in 2012 when they began the operation that led to the massive drugs haul.
Spain police involved in 2 large cocaine raids
MADRID (AP) - Spanish, Portuguese and British police boarded a ship loaded with nearly two tons of cocaine destined for sale in Europe and arrested nine people, the Interior Ministry said Saturday. Specialist agents, including members of Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency, conducted a dawn raid on March 15 while the ship was in the Atlantic Ocean, some 700 miles southwest of Portugal's Cape Verde islands. "It is the largest operation so far in 2013 in our fight against drug trafficking," said Ignacio Cosido, Spain's director general of police. Five crew aboard, four Brazilians and one Korean, were arrested and four alleged organizers - including the suspected Venezuelan mastermind - were rounded up the next day in the northern Portuguese city of Porto. "He is a well-known person," Cosido said of the main suspect. "He has a background in drug trafficking and is an important member of that world." Cocaine bales hidden in a bow locker and a backpack with a large amount in U.S. dollars were seized. The cocaine arrived at the naval dockyard of the Canary Island port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Saturday, Cosido said. The gang included a large group of Venezuela-based cocaine suppliers, the ministry statement said. Earlier Saturday Spanish authorities said they had also seized 590 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of cocaine discovered inside a sailboat moored at a private dock and arrested two Eastern European men aboard. The suspects were identified only as a 60-year-old Bulgarian and a 30-year-old from Serbia, one of whom was armed with a loaded 9mm pistol. The operation began when a suspicious vessel sailing in international waters was found heading toward Spain's Mediterranean coast. Agents observed the yacht entering the Sotogrande marina in southwestern Spain without lights and tying up at a private jetty. Investigators acting under instruction from a court in San Roque also searched several houses in that city and in Marbella. The judicial authority ordered the suspects' imprisonment. The arrest took place last week but an exact date was not given.
Florida Art Heist Reinvestigated Four Decades After 'Museum Of The Cross' Break-In
SARASOTA, Fla. — On an April evening nearly 44 years ago, just days after Easter Sunday, someone slipped into a museum in Sarasota and stole 15 paintings, one portraying the resurrected Jesus and 14 depicting the Stations of the Cross. Now, a Sarasota County Sheriff's detective is reinvestigating the decades-old disappearance of the art. "Those paintings could be anywhere in the world," said Detective Kim McGath. All of the paintings were done by artist, illustrator and author Ben Stahl, who died in 1987. He was well known in the 1950s and `60s for being a prolific and well-compensated illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post and for creating movie posters and book covers. "Ben Hur" and the 25th anniversary edition of "Gone With The Wind" were among the movie posters; "Madame Bovary" was one of his limited-edition book illustrations. He also one of the first professors at the Famous Artists School, a correspondence course in art once advertised on the back of matchbooks. Stahl, who was from Chicago, wrote and illustrated "Blackbeard's Ghost," which was made into a 1968 Walt Disney film. Commissioned to illustrate a Bible for the Catholic Press in the mid-1950s, Stahl painted the 14 Stations of the Cross. Later, he decided to paint larger versions, along with a 15th painting titled "The Resurrection," because he wanted his work to end on a positive note. All 15 paintings were 6 feet by 9 feet, and painted in oil. In 1965, Stahl and his wife moved to Sarasota, Fla., and decided to open a museum for the large-scale paintings. Called "The Museum of the Cross," it was one of the main tourist attractions in the area at the time. He also displayed other works that he had done, some on loan from museums. Even his fellow artists were impressed. "Those Museum of the Cross pictures are absolutely fabulous," wrote Norman Rockwell in a letter dated June 3, 1968. "The rest of us are just illustrators but you are among the masters and I am filled with admiration." Whoever stole the paintings and other pieces of art in the predawn hours of April 16, 1969 must have known what they were doing, said McGath, because they carefully removed each of the tacks that attached the canvases to the frames.
Stahl told The Associated Press at the time that the heist was "one of the craziest art robberies of this century." More than 50 artworks in all were stolen, including gold rosaries that Stahl and his wife had on display and had collected from their world travels. Left behind by the burglars was "The Moment of Silent Prayer," a "miracle picture" because it also survived a fire that destroyed Chicago's convention center in 1968, Stahl said at the time. The fact that "The Moment of Silent Prayer" and one other painting were left untouched was interesting: They were the only two paintings on loan from another museum and the only ones that were insured. "He couldn't understand how anyone could steal from his museum, because it was like church," said his daughter, 78-year-old Gail Stahl. "I couldn't understand why he wouldn't understand why they shouldn't have been uninsured." McGath said that no evidence points to an insurance scam or Ben Stahl's involvement. In fact, she said, he ended up in deep financial trouble following the heist. "He put everything into that museum," McGath said. "He mortgaged his home on the museum. He lost everything." At the time, officials said they had no clues. One officer theorized the works might be held for ransom. One witness remembered seeing a white van near the museum that night, while Stahl recalled two visitors from South America who asked odd questions in the days prior to the theft. The trail eventually went cold, and Stahl and his family didn't think investigators were trying as hard as they could. "It was devastating," said Regina Briskey, Ben Stahl's daughter, who was working at the museum at the time. "It was incomprehensible, because at that that time in Sarasota, there was hardly any crime." Stahl's son, David Stahl, wrote on a website that he even contacted witnesses and possible informants around Florida, but claimed authorities didn't pay attention. David Stahl could not be reached for comment for this story. McGath – who is also investigating the cold case of a quadruple murder in 1959 in Sarasota and its possible link to the "In Cold Blood" killers in Kansas – said she's poring over records and wants to talk to anyone who might have information about the Stahl art heist. INTERPOL Washington is also involved. Spokeswoman Nicole Navas said this week that officials recently sent out a message to all 190 INTERPOL member countries in an attempt to renew interest in the case, which she said is one of 500 open art heist cases being investigated by the agency. "These paintings could be anywhere," she said. The latest investigative efforts are welcome news to Gail Stahl, an artist herself who has a gallery in Laguna Beach, Calif. "I certainly hope that something will be accomplished," she said. "It's really quite sad that someone can go and take someone's work like that and disappear."
Oakland Museum theft suspect faces federal charge
OAKLAND -- A federal charge of stealing an object of cultural heritage from a museum has been filed against a parolee who is suspected of taking a Gold Rush-era jewelry box valued at $805,000 from the Oakland Museum of California on Jan. 9, authorities said Tuesday.
The federal complaint against Andre Taray Franklin, 45, of Hayward, was filed Friday in U.S. District Court. Franklin was already in the custody of state authorities, held on a charge of possession of stolen property in connection with the burglary. It is believed the state case against Franklin will soon be dropped so the federal prosecution can begin. Under federal law, a theft of major artwork from a museum is illegal. If convicted, Franklin, who has 10 prior felony convictions, could face up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, according to federal court documents. In an affidavit included with the federal complaint, FBI Special Agent Beth F. Alvarez said that Franklin's DNA matches DNA recovered from the cover of an ax handle officials believe was used to break into the museum and steal the jewelry box. The shoes that Franklin was wearing when he was arrested March 3 by Oakland police match footprints found in a muddy area outside the museum, the document states. Also, Franklin matches the physical description of the burglar who was captured on museum surveillance video, according to the affidavit. The affidavit says that Franklin sold the jewelry box to an unidentified business owner for $1,500 after the theft, then threatened to report the same man to police if he didn't pay Franklin $10,000. Police had already identified the business and its owner and recovered the jewelry box. Investigators have not publicly identified either, saying the case is still open. Besides the Jan. 9 theft, Franklin is also suspected but has not been charged in a Nov. 12 break-in at the museum that resulted in the loss of gold nuggets and Gold Rush-era pistols. Investigating such thefts is uncommon for the FBI and it is very rare for such a crime to be charged federally, authorities said. The FBI does run the National Stolen Art File, a computerized index of reported stolen art and cultural properties for the use of law enforcement agencies across the world.
Declan duffy, real ira, alan ryan, Dublin gardai, INLA, Eamon Kelly, Dessie O Hare
Declan duffy, real ira, alan ryan, Dublin gardai, INLA, Eamon Kelly, Dessie O Hare
INLA boss Declan 'Whacker' Duffy has been released from prison despite being sentenced for life in July 2010 for the murder of a British soldier. Duffy has already meet up with his fellow Armagh INLA associate Dessie O’Hare.
Gardai are on high alert after the 39- year-old was set free last weekend and immediately made his way to Dublin, where he is staying with the mother of his two children. The return of Duffy is a hugely significant and worrying development, with senior gardai expecting him to make a move to fill the power vacuum that exists in Dublin's gangland following the Real IRA internal battle for power and the departure of several major drug dealers from the city.
Officers are shocked that Duffy has re-emerged and thought they had seen the end of him when a judge ordered that he serve a minimum of 24 years in jail after admitting the murder of Sergeant Michael Newman in Derby, England, in 1992. However, the killer managed to use the fact that the slaying was an act of terror to successfully argue that he should be freed under the Good Friday Agreement, hundreds of killers, serial killers and others have benefited from the terms of what has become known as the ‘Good Felons Agreement’, with many released terrorists going on to commit further serious crimes.
Despite renouncing the INLA when he was sentenced, gardai do not believe Duffy will lead an honest life and have already observed him drinking with several senior criminals. Sources say he is a ruthless and violent criminal who takes pleasure in inflicting pain on people. The Armagh-born INLA man has bragged about how he enjoys kneecapping victims and hearing them scream.
One senior source said: "We couldn't believe it when the word came through that he was back. He was spotted drunk at least four times this week and is already associating with well-known criminals.
"Declan is not a man to rest on his laurels. He knows the Real IRA is imploding and that gangland is up in the air after Eamon Kelly was murdered last year and the lads who murdered Alan Ryan have fled the country”.
"We think he has calculated that Dublin is rife for taking over. He is right too and we are keeping a very, very close eye on developments, as is the Special Branch. Where Duffy is, violence and death and destruction inevitably follow."
Whacker Duffy led the INLA in the infamous 'Ballymount Bloodbath' in 1999. During the notorious incident, an INLA active service unit took six men hostage when they went to a factory in the Ballymount industrial estate to demand money from the owner. The men were viciously tortured, but when 12 of their friends arrived a mass brawl ensued and INLA volunteer Patrick 'Bo' Campbell died after being struck with a machete.
Duffy was caught with a note detailing exactly what happened in Ballymount and was jailed for nine years. When he was released in February 2007 he reorganised the INLA and set about taking over from drug dealing gangs in Dublin 8. He lived in an apartment on Hanover Street with his longterm partner, which was not far from where gang boss Freddie Thompson lived.
He decided to target Thompson and took over the doors of pubs and clubs around the city centre and started dealing drugs. He stepped on the toes of three senior drug dealers that were supplied by Thompson and successfully demanded protection money to allow them to operate. It was common knowledge that Duffy once acted as muscle for 'the Border Fox' Dessie O'Hare and criminals were scared stiff of him because of this and what happened at Ballymount.
When Thompson heard of the protection racket he was furious and the pair had a massive row in a pub on Francis Street. Duffy said that he was in the area to stay and that if Freddie did not give up his territory then he would be murdered.
Harmed
Freddie took out a €10,000 contract against Duffy, which led the terror chief to say: "If any member of the INLA or our political wing is harmed, the INLA will wipe them out.
"If they think they can run off to Spain and live happy ever after, they should think again. They will be hunted down."
Despite his talk, Duffy took to wearing a bullet-proof vest and had two permanent bodyguards. In September 2007 he placed a pipe bomb under Thompson's car but it didn't explode. Duffy took his plan to another level on November 22 when INLA volunteer Denis Dwyer was arrested on Camden Street with an AK- 47 in his carrier bag. He was on his way to shoot Fat Freddie. When Thompson heard of the incident he knew that Declan Duffy would not give up until he was dead and fled to Spain.
As well as taking on Thompson's mob, Duffy also beat up the head of the IRA in Dublin and took over the Provos' protection rackets. Gardaí were alarmed by how quickly Duffy's control was growing, and members of the Special Detective Unit started to take a keen interest in him.
Escaping
He had joined the INLA when he was just 13 after his brother was shot dead by the British army in 1987. He had a long criminal record and had served a five-year sentence for escaping from custody at gunpoint. In August 2007 gardaí received a tip-off that a man had been kidnapped and was being held hostage at a house in Tallaght.
When armed Emergency Response Unit officers raided the house, they discovered a 21-year-old man bound and gagged lying naked in the bath upstairs. He was in agony and covered in blood, having been attacked with a wheel brace and a broom handle. The torture went on for a number of hours.
The victim was a son of a small West Dublin businessman, who the gang was trying to extort money from. Nine people were arrested in a downstairs room and Duffy was among them. The victim was so scared that he refused to make a complaint.
In June 2008, Duffy was arrested outside the home of a prominent businessman in Cork after gardai foiled a suspected kidnap operation. He was charged with INLA membership and remanded in custody to Portlaoise Prison.
Surprisingly
In May 2009, when he surprisingly pleaded guilty before the special criminal court and publically denounced the INLA, he was jailed for four years and was also arrested on foot of a European arrest warrant for the murder of Michael Newman.
The 34-year-old army recruitment officer was shot dead in Derby by three INLA men, including Duffy and Joseph 'Mad Dog' Magee. Magee was jailed for 25 years in 2004 on the understanding he would be released under the Good Friday agreement.
After completing his sentence for INLA membership in April 2010, he was extradited to Britain, where he pleaded guilty to the murder of Sergeant Newman. The court heard how the soldier was a "soft target" because he was unarmed. He was shot at point-blank range in the head in what the judge described as a "heinous crime". He sentenced Duffy to life imprisonment, saying that he should be behind bars for a minimum of 24 years. However, he was freed last week after just two and a half years due to the terms of the ‘Good Friday Agreement’.
'Whitey Bulger' digs deep into a gangster's tale
Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy offer an authoritative study of the legendary criminal and the long manhunt that culminated in Santa Monica in 2011.
When Whitey Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica late on the afternoon of June 22, 2011, it brought to an end one of the longest, and strangest, manhunts in U.S. history. Nearly 82, Bulger had spent 15 years hiding in plain sight in an apartment complex near the Pacific with longtime girlfriend Cathy Greig. In that time, he had literally reinvented himself: from a ruthless murderer and extortionist, who for more than a quarter century ruled South Boston, or Southie, to a grandfatherly figure, white-haired, bearded and nondescript.
"We were looking for a gangster, and that was part of the problem," explains former Boston police detective Charles Fleming in Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy's "Whitey Bulger: America's Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice," a definitive account of Bulger's life and the city that helped create him. "He wasn't a gangster anymore." That's true, of course, although there is more to the story, since Bulger was nothing if not contradictory. How the man who inspired Jack Nicholson's brutal mob boss Frank Costello in the Martin Scorsese film "The Departed" could simply walk away from a life of crime is an open question, but Bulger offers up a hint. "She did what all the cops, prisons and courts couldn't," he wrote of Greig after his arrest. "Got me to live crime free for 16 years — for this they should give her a medal." "Whitey Bulger" is a portrait of its subject in all his complexity: devoted son and brother, vicious killer, neighborhood folk hero, anti-integration activist. (In 1975, he firebombed John F. Kennedy's birthplace in Brookline, Mass., to protest Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's support for enforced school busing, spray-painting the sidewalk in front of the house with the slogan "Bus Teddy.") It's a terrific book — comprehensive, deeply reported, invested with an understanding of place and character, and the subtle, at times pernicious, ways they interact. This is hardly surprising; the authors, Polk Award-winning Boston Globe reporters (Cullen also has a Pulitzer), have been on the Bulger trail for nearly 30 years. Their expertise infuses "Whitey Bulger" with authority, a depth and an engagement that makes it less a work of true crime than a social history. "[I]n his own bloody way," Cullen and Murphy write, "Whitey Bulger's life was fused with the modern history of the city. During his career he became one of its most recognizable icons. Boston is the city of John Adams, John Kennedy, and Ted Williams, but there are few names better known or more deeply associated with the city than Bulger's. Certainly he is Boston's most infamous criminal." That idea, of Boston as a city in which patrician elements are juxtaposed against a strong and rambunctious working class, resides at the heart of Cullen and Murphy's investigation. And yet, as their book reveals, such borders are more fluid than they seem. Bulger — who moved to South Boston in 1938 when he was 8, and grew up in public housing — may have learned that "[b]eing tough meant something in all of Southie, but especially the projects," but his younger brother Bill went in a different direction, serving for many years as president of the Massachusetts State Senate and later president of the University of Massachusetts. The same was true of Bulger's partner-in-crime Steve Flemmi, whose brother Michael was a Boston cop.
This porousness makes it difficult to establish clear lines between good and bad guys, to define, in any fixed way, right and wrong. Instead, as Cullen and Murphy make clear, everyone is complicit, from Bulger, who "considered himself more paternal than pathological, nothing like the other bad guys," to "[t]wo accomplished men [who] assisted in this preening self-portrait: Bill Bulger, who could never fully face what a menace his brother was, and one of Bill's protégés, FBI agent John Connolly." Connolly, as it turns out, became a central figure in the story, Bulger's FBI minder, who "cast Whitey as an indispensible ally in the FBI's war against the Mafia." Yes, that's right, ally; throughout his years in Boston's underworld, Bulger was also an FBI informant, which allowed him a freedom, an immunity, he wouldn't otherwise have had. This might be the most disturbing element of "Whitey Bulger," not because there ought to be honor among thieves but because it effectively removes any moral compass from the tale. According to Cullen and Murphy, Bulger and Flemmi, despite having killed as many as 40 people, were not only protected but abetted by agents such as Connolly and his supervisor John Morris, who alerted them to threats and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and gifts. Connolly came from Southie and had looked up to Bulger as a child. The implication is chilling: that the bonds of neighborhood, of community, are stronger than those of ethics or legality, that in a city as insular as Boston, where you grow up trumps everything.
In that sense, Cullen and Murphy suggest, Bulger is a product of the streets he came from, although those streets are no longer what they were. "Southie was 98 percent white in 1970," they write; "by 2000 it was 84 percent white, and by 2010 it was 79 percent white." Such changes echo shifts in the larger city, where "[t]he ethnic neighborhoods that had been home to the most prominent of the city's organized crime groups — the Irish in Southie and Charlestown, the Italians in the North End — were gentrified throughout the 1980s and especially the 1990s." Pointedly, they add: "If people wanted to gamble, they did so legally. The bookies were gone, replaced by state lottery machines."
This is the final irony, that for all the torment Bulger caused, the state has provoked issues of its own. Cullen and Murphy make that explicit late in the book when they detail a run of wrongful death suits against the government by the families of Bulger's victims, suits that were largely set aside. "They talk about how arrogant Whitey Bulger was, how arrogant John Connolly was, how arrogant John Morris was?" says Tommy Donahue, whose father was killed in 1982 by Bulger, acting on a tip from Connolly. "What could be more arrogant than the FBI and the Justice Department never having the decency to apologize to my family?"
Martin McGuinness 'warned by police of death threat from dissident republicans'
Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister, has been warned by police of a “real and active” death threat from dissident republicans, he said.
The Sinn Fein veteran, who has admitted being a Provisional IRA commander during the early years of its bloody campaign of violence but is now committed to the peace process, said he was visited by a senior officer last night to inform him of the threat.
Mr McGuinness said the threat had been linked by police to his condemnation of a mortar bomb find in his native Londonderry on Sunday night, and his statements of support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The former terrorist accused those behind the threat of “warped logic” in thinking that it advanced their cause, and insisted he would not be silenced.
“Last night I was visited at home by the PSNI, who informed me of a real and active threat against me from a dissident group in Derry,” he said.
“They linked the threat to my condemnation of the recent attempted mortar attack in the city and other remarks made in support of the PSNI.
“Both myself and the PSNI are taking this threat seriously. However there are times when in political leadership staying silent is not an option, and I will not be silenced by threats like this.
“I will defend the peace process from attack from whatever quarter, be it these groups or the loyalist flag protesters over recent months.
“It says much about the mentality of those controlling groups like the one behind the threat that in their warped logic threatening Irish republicans and their families somehow advances the cause of Irish reunification.
“I am very sure of the ground I stand on. I am also very sure that it is the path shared by republicans across this island genuinely interested in building a new agreed Ireland, republicans who put Ireland before ego, criminality and self gain.”
The death threat is the latest in a recent spate against the region’s politicians.
Elected representatives from across the political divide have been subject to similar intimidation, from extremists on both sides, during the ongoing Union flag controversy in Northern Ireland.
Mr McGuinness, who once told a terrorist trial he was “very, very proud” to be a member of the Provisional IRA, has since undergone a radical transformation and last year met the Queen.
He has admitted being the organisation’s second-in-command on Bloody Sunday in 1972 when civil rights protesters were shot dead by British soldiers.
Mr McGuinness was convicted of IRA membership in 1973 after being caught in a car containing 250lb of explosives and nearly 5,000 rounds of ammunition.
Admitting to the court that he belonged to the terrorist organisation, he said: “I am a member of Oglaigh na hEireann and very, very proud of it.”
Mr McGuinness insists he left the IRA in 1974. He has repeatedly denied being a member of the IRA's Northern Command and said he had no knowledge of the Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing when 11 civilians were killed.
He was later Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator in peace talks leading to the Good Friday Agreement, and emerged as a pivotal figure in the party’s evolution from political pariahs to partners in government in Northern Ireland.
Man Questioned Over Robert McCartney Murder
A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney in 2005.
A 51-year-old man from County Armagh is being questioned over the father-of-two's death.
McCartney, 33, was stabbed to death outside Magennis's bar, now named Rooney Drew's, in Belfast.
It was reported that IRA members had been involved following a fight although Sinn Féin dispute this.
At the time his family accused republicans of covering up what happened, and threatening witnesses. His sisters believe Sinn Féin and the IRA were involved in obstructing efforts to bring their brother's killers to justice. The IRA later expelled three members over the murder. Sinn Féin suspended seven of its members.
In 2008, Terence Davison, 51, was acquitted of the murder and two others were cleared of charges connected to the killing.
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- The family of a prominent Parisian art dealer is demanding that a Norwegian museum return an Henri Matisse painting seized by Nazis under the direction of Hermann Goering, in the latest dispute over art stolen from Jews during World War II. The painting at the center of the dispute, Matisse's 1937 "Blue Dress in a Yellow Armchair," depicts a woman sitting in a living room. It has been among the highlights of the Henie Onstad Art Center near Oslo since the museum was established in 1968 through a donation by wealthy art collector Niels Onstad and his wife, Olympic figure-skating champion Sonja Henie. Museum Director Tone Hansen said it had been unaware the painting was stolen by the Nazis until it was notified in 2012 by the London-based Art Loss Register, which tracks lost and stolen paintings. She said Onstad bought the painting in "good faith" from the Galerie Henri Benezit in Paris in 1950. The Benezit gallery "has no record of collaborating with the Nazis, as many galleries did," she said in an interview. Although the war ended almost 70 years ago, disputes over looted art have become increasingly common in recent years, in part because many records were lost, and in part because an international accord on returning such art was only struck in 1998. But the case of the Matisse is somewhat different in that its former owner, Paul Rosenberg, was one of the most prominent art dealers in Paris before the war, which he survived by fleeing to New York. Art Loss Register Director Chris Marinello said the records in this case are unusually clear. According to a biography published by New York's Museum of Modern Art, Rosenberg was one of the preeminent modern art dealers of his day, and personal friends with Picasso and Matisse, among others. Art Registry documents show he purchased "Blue Dress" directly from the painter, having noted the purchase in 1937 and put it on display in the same year, Marinello said. After the war, Rosenberg re-established his business and sought to recover more than 400 works that had been taken by the Nazis. Marinello showed The Associated Press documents that name the piece now on display in Norway as among those missing after the war. He slammed the Henie Onstad art museum for "stonewalling." "The evidence is overwhelming. They just don't want to resolve this," he said. Paul Rosenberg died in 1959. His family has remained prominent, as his son Alexandre was a war hero and later began his own art dealership. Among surviving family descendants are Anne Sinclair, the French journalist and ex-wife of former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss Kahn. Another granddaughter, American lawyer Marianne Rosenberg, said Friday she didn't wish to antagonize the museum, but hoped that it would come to realize that it is wrong in every sense of the term. The paintings seized from Paul Rosenberg and other Jewish victims of Nazi aggression were taken "under difficult conditions, in a cruel and unfair situation," she said in a telephone interview from her office in New York. "We honor my grandfather Paul's memory ... by doing what he would have done: we wish to recover that which we consider ours." The lawyer representing the museum, Kyre Eggen, said it was significant that Onstad didn't know where the painting came from. Under Norwegian law, if a person has had an item in good faith for more than 10 years, that person becomes the rightful owner, he said. That argument runs against the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, to which Norway is a party. The principles say that owners of looted art should take into account the difficulty that Jewish war survivors faced in reclaiming lost property after the Holocaust, and that owners of looted art should in all cases seek a fast and fair solution. The Seattle Art Museum returned a Matisse to the Rosenberg family in 1999, after initially making similar arguments. Eggen also argued that it is possible Rosenberg sold the painting himself between 1946 and 1950. But Marianne Rosenberg rejected that possibility. Art Loss Register documents show Paul Rosenberg notifying French authorities the piece was missing in 1946, and his family again listing it as among missing pieces it was seeking in 1958. "The Rosenberg family has since the end of the war assiduously and continuously sought the recovery of the paintings it lost," she said. "We have never sought to recover paintings not lost."
Matisse Painting Stolen By Nazis Reignites Sonja Henie's Dark Past
Relatives of the legendary Parisian art dealer Paul Rosenberg are demanding the return of a Matisse Masterpiece from the Henie-Onstad Art Centre in Norway. The family claim that the painting was seized by Nazis, under the orders of Hermann Goering, during World War II. The gallery has so far refused to cooperate with the family in securing its return.
"Blue Dress in a Yellow Armchair," shows a woman sitting in a drawing room in front of a fireplace with another painting by Matisse hanging over the mantle. It has been prominently displayed at the Henie-Onstad Art Gallery in Oslo from the time the museum was established in 1968. It was gifted by the wealthy art collector Niels Onstad and his wife the Olympic figure-skating champion, Sonja Henie who created the important art collection together.
"Henie's connections with Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi officials made her the subject of controversy before, during, and after World War II. During her amateur skating career, she performed often in Germany and was a favorite of German audiences and of Hitler personally. As a wealthy celebrity, she moved in the same social circles as royalty and heads of state and made Hitler's acquaintance as a matter of course"(1).
"Controversy appeared first when Henie greeted Hitler with a Nazi salute during an exhibition in Berlin some time prior to the 1936 Winter Olympics; she was strongly denounced by the Norwegian press. She did not repeat the salute at the Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but after the Games she accepted an invitation to lunch with Hitler at his resort home in nearby Berchtesgaden, where Hitler presented Henie with an autographed photo which included a lengthy inscription. After starting her film career, Henie kept up her Nazi connections by personally arranging with Joseph Goebbels the distribution and release of her first Hollywood film, "One in a Million", in Germany"(2).
The Henie-Onstad Centre in Oslo was only notified about the title dispute in 2012, when the London-based Art Loss Register, an official data-base of lost, stolen and looted works of art contacted them. The ALR have documentation that the Matisse was in the inventory of the Rosenberg Gallery and that it was reported missing to the French authorities as early as 1946. The American lawyer and Rosenberg granddaughter Marianne Rosenberg, stated to AP on Friday that she; "didn't wish to antagonise the museum, but hoped that it would come to realise that it is wrong in every sense of the term", to keep the painting.
Paul Rosenberg was one of the greatest art dealers of his generation. He represented artists including Picasso, Braque, and Matisse. He began his career in his father's antiques business, and worked in England (1902–05) before returning to Paris to open an art gallery (1911). The gallery was successful enough that he opened another premises in England (1935). He emigrated to the U.S. in 1940 to escape Nazi persecution. Rosenberg opened a gallery in New York which he represented Modern American and European artists. The Henie - Onstad Centre in Oslo should now do the right thing and give the painting back to its rightful owners.
Thieves steal Uncle Arthur’s 1934 Nobel Prize medal
The Labour politician won the prize for his work on disarmament
The Nobel Peace Prize medal won by one of the founding fathers of the modern Labour Party, Arthur Henderson, has been stolen in a £150,000 raid at the Lord Mayor’s office in Newcastle.
Burglars forced their way into the mansion through a cellar before breaking in to display cases and stealing unique artefacts including antique silverware and a lock of hair from one of the country’s most distinguished admirals of the 18th century. Police have not ruled out some of the most recognisable items having been stolen to order but fear that some may be swiftly melted down for their scrap value since they will be impossible to sell on the open market. The 23-carat gold Nobel award, dating back to 1934, would be worth £5,000 if melted down but its historic value makes it much more valuable. All 124 winners of the prize dating back to 1901 have been given similar medals. Mr Henderson, Labour’s first ever cabinet minister and known as “Uncle Arthur” for his central role in the party, won his award for his ultimately unsuccessful work on international disarmament before the Second World War. A quarter century after his death in 1935, the medal was presented to Newcastle City Council and had been on display in the grand hallway of the Lord Mayor’s mansion when burglars broke in late on Monday night. Mr Henderson, who was born in Glasgow, grew up in Newcastle and worked in the North-east as an ironworker before forging a formidable political career. Police Superintendent Bruce Storey said: “It’s difficult to tell but at this stage we can’t discount that these items have been targeted. It’s not opportunistic and they could have been stolen to order.” “Some of the items taken in this burglary are very uncommon and we are asking the public to keep their eyes open for them.” The burglary marks the first theft of a peace prize but the 1913 medal for literature won by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore was stolen from a museum in West Bengal in 2004. The medal was never recovered and a replacement was made. The Nobel Foundation has been contacted about the stolen Henderson medal and supplied photographs to help with the search. A rose bowl presented to Mr Henderson when he was given freedom of the city of Newcastle in 1930 was also stolen. Other items stolen included an oak box containing a lock of hair of Lord Collingwood, a Royal Navy admiral who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar. Vernon Rapley, the former head of Scotland Yard’s art and antiques squad and current head of security at the Victoria and Albert Museum, said the items stolen were a “strange mixture”. He said items were rarely stolen to order at the behest of a “Mr Big” and even if the burglars had been commissioned to steal certain treasures, they could have grabbed other items that appeared of value. The Art Loss Register, which operates an international database of stolen items, said that the medals would show up if they hit the open market. Greg Rosen, the chairman of the Labour History Group, said the Henderson medal was one of the great symbols of his achievements during a lifetime of service. “He was immensely admired and respected. He was solid and unflashy and wasn’t someone who blew his own trumpet.
Historic Goodwood trophies worth £15,000 stolen near Chichester
Historic Goodwood trophies worth £15,000 stolen near Chichester
Historic trophies worth £15,000 were stolen from a stately home. A gang of four men swiped the 28 trophies from the Goodwood Estate, near Chichester, in just three minutes. The trophies were loaded into a Range Rover while builders were working on site. A spokesman from the estate said he feared they would be melted down and sold as scrap. The stolen trophies included the Mobil Oil Trophy from 1931, marking victory in motor racing. The 16.5 inch-high trophy has shallow silver circular bowl sup- ported by winged figures of women.
The 1916 Sheep Trophy – marking the best sheep in show – is a silver-gilt two-handled cup and cover. Gary Axon, from Goodwood, said CCTV from the night of the burglary showed at least four people in a dark-coloured Range Rover targeting the Home of Golf building. He said: “They smashed a ground floor window to gain access then smashed four glass display cabinets to steal 33 trophies, two of which were part of the Goodwood chattels and of great historic value to the house and family. “The remaining trophies were either golf or motor sport related. “The total value of the haul is believed to be up to £15,000 and the burglary took less than three minutes from start to finish.
“Obviously these trophies would be very hard to sell on and we fear that they could be melted down. “The trophies which have been taken are irreplaceable. “They have been in the fam- ily for decades.” Clubs across the south east were put on high alert last year following a spate of thefts. In October 20 trophies were taken from West Sussex Golf Club in Pulborough. Other clubs were targeted in Surrey and Hampshire. One man, discussing the thefts on Facebook, said: “It’s a smash and grab. They are targeting golf clubs specifically. Put your silver in a safe until they are caught.” A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: “Police are investigating a burglary at the Goodwood Estate. The burglary took place around 11pm on Monday 11 March. “Around 28 trophies were stolen dur- ing the burglary. “Officers would also like to hear from anyone who has been offered trophies to buy.”
Hunt for diamond ring stolen in Hove burglary
Hunt for diamond ring stolen in Hove burglary
A £500 reward has been offered for a highly valuable diamond ring stolen in a Hove burglary. A flat on Wilbury Road in Hove was broken into between 6.45am and 1.30pm on March 7. But the ring, which is of sentimental value to the owner, was only noticed missing on March 24. Detective Constable Paul Candy from Brighton and Hove Priority Crime Unit said: "The crime was reported to police on 24 March when the victim decided to wear the ring for an evening out and realised that it was missing.
"She is very upset at having been burgled but devastated that an item of such sentimental value has been taken and has offered a reward of £500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the theft. The ring is described as having a white gold band with diamonds on the face shaped like an eye. Other items taken during the burglary include cash, a silver Cartier watch and a green Ipod.
Picture of stolen painting released as police hunt for burglars
Picture of stolen painting released as police hunt for burglars
A photograph of a painting stolen during a burglary in Angmering has been released by police officers hunting for the thieves. Several items including two paintings, cash and jewellery were taken during the break-in at East Drive on February 15. A police spokesperson said: "Extensive enquiries have been undertaken to try and find those responsible for the burglary, but we have been unable to trace them. "We hope that someone may recognise this painting and it will assist with the investigation.
Woman accused of stealing $30,000 worth of antique figurines
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A 57-year-old woman is behind bars amid accusations she stole $30,000 worth of antique figurines from a Houston art gallery in southwest Houston.
Patricia DiCoste was arrested Friday at her Bellaire home in connection to the April Fool's Day theft at Simpson Galleries. Detectives say DiCoste, a frequent customer of the gallery, stole 18 antique Chinese figurines called Buddhist Lohans. They were made during the Qing Dynasty, which dates to the 16th century, and had made their way into the U.S. before a ban on ivory imports was imposed. The artifacts, which are valued at $30,000, had been at Simpsons on consignment until the gallery's manager received a call on Monday. "Simpsons had received word from a third party that these particular items had shown up at another gallery. They confirmed that those were their pieces -- promptly went and looked around their warehouse and could not find the items," said Richard Halberd with Homeland Security Investigations. Authorities say DiCoste sold the figurines to a high-end consignment shop, which then sold them to a Houston-based auction house for $8,000. They were finally seized Wednesday by special agents with Homeland Security Investigations. "As it turns out, Simpsons Gallery is one of the places we did outreach on and so it's nice to see the fruits of our outreach coming back to us with a lead," Halberd said. The ivory statues now are being kept at the Harris County District Attorney's Office until they're returned to the gallery. Meanwhile, DiCoste is being held at the Harris County Jail, waiting arraignment on a charge of felony theft. The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the Bellaire Police Department. DiCoste's arrest was conducted in support of Houston HSI's Operation "Hidden Relic" because the figurines are classified as cultural antiquities.
Judge will determine Renoir painting's owner
Potomack Company - This image released by Potomack Company shows an apparently original painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir that was acquired by a woman from Virginia who stopped at a flea market in West Virginia and paid $7 for a box of trinkets that included the painting. An anonymous woman who claimed to have found a Renoir painting at a flea market has been unmasked in court papers as she fights to retain it. It turned out the painting was stolen from the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1951. When a theft report was found in September, the FBI seized the painting. Now a federal judge in Alexandria will determine who owns it. The Washington Post reports the woman who called herself "Renoir Girl" is Marcia "Martha" Fuqua of Lovettsville, Va., a former physical education teacher.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A federal judge will seek to unravel an art mystery and determine the rightful owner of a napkin-sized painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir that a Virginia woman says she bought at a flea market for $7. The ownership is in dispute after documents were uncovered showing a Baltimore museum reported the painting stolen more than 60 years ago. The painting has been seized by the FBI, and the federal government filed an action last month in U.S. District Court in Alexandria asking a judge to determine who should keep the painting. Among the contenders is a Lovettsville woman, Marcia "Martha" Fuqua, who has told the FBI that she bought the painting at a West Virginia flea market in late 2009 for $7 and stored it in a plastic trash bag for two years before having it authenticated as a genuine Renoir. Last year, Fuqua planned to have the painting sold at auction, where it was expected to fetch at least $75,000. But the auction was postponed after it was learned that the Baltimore Museum of Art reported the painting stolen in 1951. Records show an insurer, the Fireman's Fund, paid a $2,500 claim on the theft.
The insurer says it is now the rightful owner, based on payment of that claim. According to an appraisal commissioned by the FBI, Renoir painted "Paysage bords de Seine," or On the Shore of the Seine, on a linen napkin in 1879 on the spot at a riverside restaurant for his mistress. The appraiser says the Renoir's value is about $22,000, much less than the auction house estimated, because Renoir's paintings have fallen out of favor with some art collectors who consider them old fashioned and because questions about the painting's ownership and possible theft diminish its value to collectors. Fuqua, who had managed to remain anonymous until the court case was filed, told the FBI under penalty of perjury that she bought the painting at a flea market in Harpers Ferry, W. Va., never believing the painting to be a true Renoir, even though a plate reading "RENOIR" is attached to the frame. She describes herself as an "innocent buyer" and questions the FBI's authority to seize the painting. "Because I am not an art historian, collector, appraiser, or dealer, I lacked the expertise to identify the Renoir Painting's authenticity, origins or previous ownership history," she wrote. On Friday, The Washington Post reported that Fuqua's 84-year-old mother, who operated an art school for decades in Fairfax County under the name Marcia Fouquet, is an artist who specialized in reproducing paintings from Renoir and other masters. The Post said Fouquet had artistic links to Baltimore in the 1950s, when the painting was stolen, and graduated from Goucher College with a fine arts degree in 1952. A man who identified himself as Fuqua's brother, Owen M. Fuqua, told the Post that the painting had been in the family for 50 or 60 years and that "all I know is my sister didn't just go buy it at a flea market." The man later retracted his story, and ultimately said it was another person using his name who gave the initial interview. Efforts by the AP Friday to reach Martha and Owen Fuqua Friday were unsuccessful. Martha Fuqua's lawyer did not return a call Friday seeking comment. The FBI has an ongoing investigation, according to spokeswoman Lindsay Godwin. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered all parties seeking to claim ownership of the painting to make their case in written pleadings later this month.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/04/05/3244882/judge-will-determine-renoir-paintings.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/04/05/3244882/judge-will-determine-renoir-paintings.html#storylink=cpy
Stolen Picasso Case Takes Stamford Police to NY, London, California
Police found the failed actor and alleged thief in California, where he had been busted for allegedly stealing a car the day prior to Stamford police searching for him.
A homeless California man has been arrested and extradited to Stamford for allegedly stealing a $25,000 Picasso sketch following a year-long investigation that took investigators to galleries in New York and London, Stamford police announced Friday. The suspect was caught after stealing a car the day prior to Stamford authorities running his information through the National Crime Information Center, police said. According to Sgt. Peter DiSpagna, a failed actor who was an acquaintance of an art collector in Stamford stole a sketch from Pablo Picasso's 1938 series of Buste de Femme a la Chaise, which was validated, stamped and registered. The complainant had a number of art pieces in his basement and didn't realize the sketch was missing for approximately 2 years, DiSpagna said. DiSpagna said the suspect, identified as Terrence Riggins, 48, with a last known residence of Warren St. in Brooklyn, NY, knew the collector while attempting to make it as an actor before falling on hard times. Riggins allegedly ripped the Picasso out of a frame in the complainant's home, causing minor damage to the piece, and selling it to a New York gallery for $1150. The New York gallery sold the piece to a London art gallery. When that gallery then sold the piece to a collector in Manhattan for $11,000 in January of 2013, the complainant's brother saw the piece being sold online and alerted authorities. With the help of Interpol and New York investigators, Stamford police finally tracked down the path the sketch traveled to the New York gallery that originally sold the sketch to London and discovered the owner had the information for Riggins, DiSpagna said. When DiSpagna was preparing to submit Riggins information to various authorities and ran it through NCIC, he discovered Riggins had been arrested the day prior, March 11, on charges that he stole a car in California, where he moved after not making it in New York as an actor. Riggins waived extradition rights and was picked up by Stamford authorities Wednesday of this week and brought to Connecticut Thursday. He was charged with first-degree larceny and held on a $20,000 bond. DiSpagna said the sketch would not be returned to the original complainant as the piece had legitimately changed hands a number of times following the alleged theft. Riggins, should he be found guilty, would eventually be responsible for the cost of the sketch to the original owner.
As has occurred on multiple occasions over the last few decades, once again, valued artwork owned by Jews in pre-Holocaust Europe has been the focus of a protracted legal imbroglio.
As was reported in the New York Post, the German state of Bavaria has assumed a recalcitrant posture as it pertains to returning a famed painting done by Pablo Picasso called “Madame Solder” to the family of Felix Mendelssohn, the legendary 19th-century classical composer. He is best known for his overture for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Presently, a lawsuit has been filed in Manhattan federal court against Bavaria over their refusal to return the painting of three of Mendelssohn's relatives. With an estimated worth of $100 million, “Madame Soler” is a 1903 portrait that Picasso did during his popular “Blue Period.” The suit states that the previous owner of the iconic painting was Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a Jewish banker and a relative of Felix Mendelssohn’s. Amongst the plaintiffs in the suit are Queens homeowner, Britt-Marie Enhoerning, who holds both American and Swedish citizenship. Court papers reveal that beginning in the early 1900s, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy assiduously assembled a “singular private modern art collection” of approximately 60 works by such exemplary artists such as Monet, Renoir, Picasso and van Gogh. Prior to his death of a heart attack in 1935, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy made the painful decision to liquidate his impressive collection as the Nazi party rose to prominence in Germany and began to seize the assets of Jewish owned banks, thus decimating his cash flow. The NY Post also reports that in 1964, Madame Soler” was eventually sold to the Bavarian State Paintings Collection from the Manhattan apartment of Justin Thannhauser, a Berlin art dealer who fled Germany in 1937. During the war, the painting was consigned him. The sale of the painting to the Bavarian government was “through its agent and incoming director,” who’s identified in the suit as “former Nazi party member Halldor Soehner.” The court papers also charge that, “When it acquired ‘Madame Soler’ in 1964, Bavaria was planning to sell secretly some 113 paintings that leading former Nazi officials like Herman Göring and Martin Bormann had owned, and to auction these works to unsuspecting buyers to raise money to acquire modern artworks like ‘Madame Soler,’” . “With ex-Nazi Halldor Soehner directing operations, Bavaria auctioned 106 of these works in 1966-67 by concealing the ownership history of these paintings so that prospective buyers remained unaware that notorious Nazi leaders once had owned them — and that the Nazis in turn may have acquired these works from persecuted Jews”, the papers add. Although Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s descendants are embroiled in intense legal wrangling with the Bavarian government over the return of “Madame Soler”, they had previously won a $5 million settlement after suing the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum over two other Picassos from his collection. According to the lawsuit, Bavaria has remained adamant in its refusal to return “Madame Soler” and has not agreed to submit the dispute to Germany’s Limbach Commission, which hears claims over Nazi-looted art. John Byrne Jr, the attorney for the plaintiffs said, “This is a case of great historical importance involving Germany’s most famous Jewish family. We are perplexed and disappointed by Bavaria’s failure to properly address the important issues involved in this matter.” A spokesman for the German Embassy in Washington declined to comment. While stubbornly holding on to Jewish owned artwork for over 70 years, some museums in Europe are now beginning the process of returning such works to the owner’s heirs. According to a recent report in The Guardian newspaper of London, France has agreed to return seven paintings stolen, or forcibly appropriated by the Nazis from their Jewish owners in the 1930s to their families. Four of the seven paintings had been hanging in the Louvre in Paris for decades, known as the world’s most foremost art museum. The report discloses the fact that the paintings were destined to be displayed in an art gallery that Nazi Chancellor Adolf Hitler planned to build in his native Austria. As many legitimate heirs of Jewish art collectors who lived in pre-Nazi Europe are now initiating lawsuits against museums who have been reluctant to return the highly valued paintings in question, some museums find themselves with no choice but to hand over the stolen works. As part of the renewed effort by the French government to return looted or misappropriated artworks to their rightful owners, they are starting with these seven paintings. The Guardian reports that six of the seven works being handed back belonged to Robert Neumann, an Austrian Jew who fled to France and then Cuba, selling some of his collection to fund his escape. The paintings will be given to Neumann’s grandson, Tom Selldorff, 82, who lives in the United States. The seventh work, by the German painter Pieter-Jansz van Asch, belonged to Josef Wiener, a Prague Jew who died in a German concentration camp, and whose collection was sold by the Nazis in 1941. Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis purloined about 100,000 paintings, sculptures and other valuable objects in Jewish private collections in Europe. Some were stolen, others were sold under pressure, often to fund an escape from German occupation and the death camps. In January of this year, a Viennese newspaper called Der Standard reported that the Jewish Museum of Vienna has been in possession of hundreds of books and works of art that may have been stolen by the Nazis. Der Standard reported that a screening program that started in 2007, years after other Austrian museums began combing their collections for works taken from their rightful owners, had determined that about 500 works of art and 900 books are of dubious origin. It cited in particular paintings by Jehudo Epstein, who, while abroad in 1936, entrusted 172 works to industrialist Bernhard Altmann for safekeeping. Altmann fled the country in 1938 when Nazi Germany annexed Austria, and his factory was “Aryanized,” the paper said. The Nazis confiscated the paintings and in some cases erased the signature of the artist. Epstein died in South Africa in 1945. After 1947, his widow tried in vain to track down the paintings, some of which were later sold at auction by Dorotheum, a huge Austrian auction house, the paper said. One of them, “Madchen mit blonden Zopfen” (The Girl With Blonde Braids), was purchased by gallery owner and restaurateur Kurt Kalb. Several others are now in the Jewish Museum’s collection, the paper said, citing information it got from the museum after many requests.
Antiques valued at £60,000 stolen from van parked at Glastonbury Travelodge
Police are looking for witnesses after £60,000 of antiques were stolen from a van parked at the Glastonbury Travelodge. The victim, who had been exhibiting at an antiques fair held at the Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet, lost Rolex watches, pewter and silver in the raid.
Thieves broke the glass on the driver-side window of the victim’s Vauxhall Movano van in the early hours of Monday morning. Inspector Mark Nicholson from Wells Police Station said no other vehicles in the car park were targeted in the raid.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/04/05/3244882/judge-will-determine-renoir-paintings.html#storylink=cpy
Art Hostage has learned that Charlie Hill has been in negotiations to recover the Oudry White Duck Painting stolen from Houghton Hallin 1992, the Norfolk home of theCholmondeley family, and those negotiations are at an advanced stage.
Charlie Hill is trying to recover the Oudry White Duck in the same fashion as he did with the Titian stolen from Longleat and recovered by Charlie Hill back in 2002. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/aug/23/arttheft.arts
However, Police are aware of Charlie Hill's current efforts and have him under surveillance and as soon as the Oudry White Duck is revealed, they will swoop and make arrests and also demand no monies, I repeat no monies are paid out for the recovery of the Oudry White Duck.
This comes as Charlie Hill has also been making advances in the Gardner art Heist by visiting a convicted criminal in Ireland and claiming that criminal has access to the Gardner art and all he wants is for the remains of his dead brother to be repatriated to Ireland.
Far fetched as the Gardner Art Heist aspect seems, the Oudry White Duck aspect of that news has been confirmed by sources close to the negotiations.
Former K-1 stalwart Ruslan Karaev suspected in multi-million dollar art theft
Ruslan Karaev was never what you might call a star in K-1, but he was a name fighter with victories over Kyotaro, Badr Hari, and Stefan Leko. However, after a 2009 loss to Badr Hari at the K-1 World Grand Prix Final, he's been largely inactive. Now he's back in the news, and for all the wrong reasons.
In October of 2012 seven paintings (Pablo Picasso's 1971 "Harlequin Head;" Claude Monet's 1901 "Waterloo Bridge, London" and "Charing Cross Bridge, London;" Matisse's 1919 "Reading Girl in White and Yellow;" Gauguin's 1898 "Girl in Front of Open Window;" Meyer de Haan's "Self-Portrait," around 1890; and Lucian Freud's 2002 work "Woman with Eyes Closed.") were stolen from the Kunsthal Gallery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Three Romanian men were arrested under suspicion of the theft, and while speaking with prosecutors one of them dropped a very interesting name, Ruslan Karaev.
Radu Dogaru was arrested, after allegedly taking the works to the curator for foreign paintings at the Romanian National Art Museum to be valued. While under questioning he apparently told authorities that he gave four of the paintings to K-1 kickboxer Ruslan Karaev. European coverage of the story suggests that Karaev may have ties to organized crime in Russia, ties which have kept him out of competitive kickboxing.
However, at the moment there is little clarity, as sources have been unable to confirm Dogaru's statements.
Kunsthal Art Heist Suspect's Girlfriend Spills Beans, Deal Offered For Lighter Sentences.
The 19-year-old Romanian woman who was stuck on suspicion of involvement in the robbery from the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, has helped in Romania in detecting the paintings. That's her lawyer Martin Iwema said Wednesday.
The woman was released Wednesday after having been fixed. Than 6 weeks Natasha T. in the period was approximately 15 hours 'intensive' interrogated by the police. Police hoped that the woman could help with the recovery of the seven paintings among others Gauguin, Monet and Picasso representing one million value. The Romanian is the girlfriend of D. Radu, who along with several co-defendants stuck in Romania. Two months after the art theft, which took place in October last year, Natasha went to Romania. She visited there among others the mother of Radu D. That would in that period of her son have received 'that stuff' out of the house to take away. A call "The suspect was referring hence a bag with precious cloths. Mother Olga D. brought the bag along with Natasha to another address in the village, "says Iwema. According Iwema has his client led police to the address where they had left the bag. Iwema want to give any details about that location. 'T. wanted to protect her friend and was not trying to make money. "the cloths On the evidence of T. Moreover, no new suspects are arrested. Unfindable So far, the artworks not found. There are rumors that they are burned, but there are different scenarios the round. Iwema does not exclude that there are negotiations about the location of the paintings in exchange for reduced sentences. According Iwema involves petty thieves "who happen easily running into an open door of the Kunsthal. They would not have picked the canvases, the value or name but the works were especially easy fit in the suitcase. They all had about the same size. The lawyer states that the Public Prosecutor (OM) actually has no case against T. The woman, who worked in prostitution, would not have been aware of the plans of the group of men to steal the paintings. Iwema: "They did not see her as a full partner. She is held by the robbers deliberately outside the plan. "
Rhino horns stolen in National Museum raid were not insured
RHINOCEROS horns stolen from the National Museum during an armed raid were not insured. Four heads with eight horns, worth €500,000, were stolen from a storage facility in Swords, Co Dublin, late on Wednesday night and are probably destined for the Far East. Three masked men broke into the National Museum's Collections Resource Centre (CRC) on the Balheary Road at about 10.40pm and tied up a security man before fleeing an hour later in a white van. The security guard was not injured and later managed to free himself and alert the gardai shortly after midnight.
The heads had been taken out of public display more than a year ago and put into storage after a spate of similar thefts from museums across Europe. The rhinoceros horns were up to 100 years old and were probably stolen to supply the illegal trade in powdered horn that is used in traditional medicines in the Far East. The gardai sealed off the premises to carry out a technical examination, and an incident room has been set up at Swords garda station. CCTV footage is being examined as part of the probe. Keeper with the National Museum, Nigel Monaghan, said last night the horns, which were on display on Merrion Street, were removed more than a year ago amid security concerns. "We took a decision a couple of years ago, largely on garda advice and also from monitoring the traffic internationally, following a steady rise of theft of rhino horn. The pattern was to smash and grab, even when the museums were open, and we did not want to put the public at risk. "The horns were in the CRC for the last year. They would be powdered up and sold in the medicinal trade in the east, and would be worth about €500,000." And he admitted that the horns were not insured, despite their value. "Generally, the museum would insure items which are sent on loan to other institutions. Generally, state heritage is not covered by insurance because you'd be spending a fortune on insurance premiums. They were not insured. "We would hope that the rhino heads are recovered . . . Unless you've got connections to the Far East trophy heads would normally fetch a couple of thousand euro." Back-story Rathkeale Rovers DUBLIN — Masked men stole stuffed rhinoceros heads containing eight valuable horns from the warehouse of Ireland's National Museum, police and museum officials said Thursday, in a heist being linked to an Irish Gypsy gang that specializes in such raids across Europe. Police said three men raided the storeroom in Swords, north of Dublin, on Wednesday night and tied up the lone security guard. He later freed himself and raised the alarm. Nigel Monaghan, keeper at the National Museum's natural history section, said the museum had never experienced such a theft before but had worried that the rhinos would be targeted. He said the four heads – three of black rhinos from Kenya, one of the virtually extinct white rhino from Sudan, all killed more than a century ago – were removed from display last year and put into storage specifically to safeguard them from thieves. He said the eight horns could be worth a total of about (EURO)500,000 ($650,000) on the black market based on their weight. Three of the five species of rhinoceros in Africa and South Asia have been hunted to the verge of extinction because their horns command exceptionally high prices for use in traditional Asian medicine chiefly in China and Vietnam, where the powdered horn is marketed as an aphrodisiac and even as a cure for cancer. The horns are made of keratin, a fibrous protein that is the building block for skin and hair, and has no documented medicinal value. In 2011, Europol issued a warning that an Irish Gypsy criminal network based in the County Limerick village of Rathkeale was responsible for dozens of thefts of rhino horns across Europe. Europol said the thieves – officially called the Rathkeale Rovers but also dubbed the Dead Zoo Gang by Dublin tabloids – had already targeted museums, galleries, zoos, auction houses, antique dealers and private collections in Britain, continental Europe, the United States and South America. In 2010, U.S. undercover agents arrested two members of the Rathkeale gang trying to buy four black rhino horns in Colorado. They both received six-month prison sentences. Rathkeale is considered the epicenter for Ireland's Gypsy minority, known locally as "travellers." They own most of the properties in the town, which regularly experiences huge influxes of Irish travellers from throughout Ireland and Britain arriving in luxury vehicles for clan events. Irish police and Europol say the Rathkeale criminal network also is involved in road-tarmac fraud and the sale of counterfeit goods, particularly tools and engine parts.
Stolen Egg Found: $1.3 Million Faberge Style Object Found Near Swiss Border... And More Arts News
Painting Worth €1.2m Stolen From A Yacht Turns Up At Former Juventus Star Roberto Bettega’s House
A painting by preeminent Russian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall that was stolen from an American yacht anchored in an Italian port over a decade ago has resurfaced hanging on the walls of former Juventus striker Roberto Bettega’s house in Turin after being tracked down by Italy’s art-theft police squadron. The painting, called “Le Nu au Bouquet” was painted by Chagall in 1920 and is conservatively estimated to be worth around €1.2 million… Italian authorities have been quick to absolve Bettega, who bought the painting in good faith from a gallery in Bologna back in 2003. Bettega (who played for Juve several hundred times between 1969 and 1983, picked up 45 caps for the Italian national side and is currently employed as the Bianconeri’s deputy director-general) was said to be unaware that the painting was stolen from an American-owned yacht which had been anchored for repairs in the northern port of Savona and had no idea the gallery he bought it from was a clearing house for stolen artwork. According to Italian news coverage, the thieves replaced the original painting on the yacht with a copy and then hoodwinked the Chagall Foundation into providing a new authentication for the stolen artwork. We’re fairly sure there’s a joke about dodgy Juventus directors in there somewhere but frankly we’re not willing to make it on legal grounds.
Billionaire Tamir Sapir Failed To Notice That $200,000 Worth of Silver Champagne Buckets Had Been Stolen From His Long Island Mansion
Billionaire cabbie-turned-real-estate mogul Tamir Sapir was recently the victim of theft at his $20 million Long Island mansion after a construction worker allegedly stole four antique silver champagne buckets worth $200,000, according to Newsday. But the real crime is that Mr. Sapir didn’t even notice that his extravagant booze buckets were gone until an auction house called him months after the fact. Being a billionaire is hard! Apparently, Mr. Sapir only learned of the theft when Sotheby’s notified him that construction worker Anatoliy Maryuk had tried to fence two of the buckets—made in France and worth $50,000 a pop—to the auction company in September 2011. Mr. Maryuk had, at this point, allegedly sold the two other buckets on Ebay. In Mr. Sapir’s defense, $200,000 is kind a drop in the silver champagne bucket when you’re worth $2 billion. And it takes a lot of time and energy to manage a real estate empire as well as one’s personal, palatial dwellings, let alone worry about every piece of $50,000 kitchen equipment. And while we’d like to believe that the life of a real estate mogul with a sprawling Long Island mansion means drinking expensive champagne every evening, we understand that even people who can afford to chug the finest bubbly sometimes prefer other libations. Besides, when one has a staff, one doesn’t necessarily interact with one’s household belongings on a daily basis—perhaps the butler simply assumed that the antiques had been misplaced by a maid and started using one of the other silver champagne buckets. Sadly, if court documents filed in 2010 are true, there might be another explanation for the mogul’s absent-mindedness. While Mr. Sapir appears to have been busy managing his extensive personal and real estate holdings these last few years—selling the Duke Semans mansion to Carlos Slim for $44 million, importing endangered and exotic animal carcases into the country on his yacht, buying the perfect Long Island mansion, he has allegedly been suffering from aphasia—”a deteriorating mental condition” since 1998. The condition has left him unable to form comprehensible sentences in either English or his native Russian, and to do little other than sign his name, according to court documents that came to light as part of the $130 million lawsuit against him. (Although one wonders why a man who can longer form comprehensible sentences is allowed to sign documents.) But if Mr. Sapir is no longer calling the shots at his business empire (rumors abound that his son Alex is the one running the show these days), surely there’s someone looking after his personal affairs who should be safeguarding his very expensive champagne buckets? And making sure that 150-foot yacht isn’t filled with stuffed Bengal tiger heads when it enters U.S. waters (being shipped on an Italian freighter no less)? For his part, Mr. Maryuk, who is being charged with second-degree larceny, denies that he pilfered the pricey buckets, according to his lawyer. In the meantime, we’ll toast to the truth being uncovered in a timely manner.
Flagons stolen from Clifton Park Museum
The 18th Century silver flagons were stolen from Clifton Park Museum
Two 18th Century silver flagons worth £30,000 have been stolen from a museum in South Yorkshire.
The 36.5cm high (14in) drinking vessels were taken from Clifton Park Museum in Rotherham on Tuesday. Thieves broke into the museum overnight by smashing a window, South Yorkshire Police said. Both flagons had a domed hinged cover with a leaf scroll thumb-piece and engraved with "The Gift of Mrs Mary Bellamy, Late of Rotherham, 1781". The George III flagons, which have a hollow handle with a heart shape at the end, weighed 116oz (3kg) in total. Police have appealed for witnesses.
Stolen Antiques Discovered At Chop Shop, 2 Arrested
A major burglary operation and chop shop is out of commission.
Police found guns, auto parts, and of all things…expensive stolen antiques.
It happened in Fresno, at a home near Herndon and Highway 99.
Two people are in custody.
CBS 47's Lemor Abrams has more on with what went down.
Police found room after room loaded with stolen stuff, auto parts stripped from new cars, and $25,000 worth of antiques, stolen days earlier from a Fresno antique shop.
“We set up a deal here at North Garfield…out here in the country. As we set it up to buy the antiques he was selling-we showed up and served a search warrant,” said Fresno Police Sgt. Tim Tietjen.
Fresno Police's Burglary Task Force initially went for the antiques, but say a man and woman were also running a fencing operation and chop shop.
“He was actively involved in having people bring the vehicles out to him but he was also active in burglaries inside city where he was participating in stealing the antiques from some of these stores,” said Sgt. Tietjen.
And the suspects aren't going down easy. Police accuse them of burning down the antique shop a couple days after burglarizing it.
“After they got what thought they wanted Saturday, they actually burned the business… arson,” said Sgt. Tietjen.
The antique dealer showed up to take back his collection.
Police are looking for other victims.
“We’re sure we're going to find other victims...we're doing more follow reports,” said Sgt. Tietjen.
‘Reconnaissance units’ stake out houses for burglar gangs
Criminal gangs are using reconnaissance units to stake out houses before leaving chalk markings outside denoting if they’re ripe for burgling or too risky to enter.
Muintir na Tíre’s national co-ordinator for community alert, Liam Kelly, described the use of the so-called ‘Da Pinchi Code’ as “very disturbing”.
The chalk markings have appeared in Dublin, Drogheda, and Limerick areas in recent months.
It is understood at least eight signs are being used by the “recon unit”, one of which indicates the occupant is a vulnerable female and easily conned.
Another points to the householder being nervous and afraid, while other signs indicate the house is a good target and its owners are wealthy.
Reconnaissance units also save their burglar colleagues time by leaving signs showing there is nothing worth stealing from a house, or it is too risky to attempt burgling it.
Mr Kelly, a retired garda, said that years ago he had come across such markings, which are used regularly by criminal gangs in Britain.
“The re-emergence of these signs [in Ireland] is very disturbing,” he said.
“We advise anybody who sees them to immediately remove them and report it to the gardaí.”
He advised people in particular to keep a close eye out on the homes of elderly or vulnerable neighbours in case such markings suddenly appear outside their properties.
Mick Neary, a consultant with the firm National Security, has posted the signs on his company website to alert the public.
“My own father was a garda and he knew of the existence of these signs years ago,” he said.
“People should be especially aware of casual labourers coming to their doors looking to do work because they could be reconnaissance men.
“From our information they are also checking on the security company name on alarm boxes. They check on the internet to see if the company has gone out of business. If it went out of business a few years ago it’s likely the alarm hasn’t been serviced and the chances are it will not work properly.”
Mr Neary said the average burglar will spend just eight minutes in a house and as such could cause considerable damage in a short space of time in an estate where they know householders are out at work.
A Garda spokesman said there was “insufficient evidence to significantly link such markings with burglaries”.
Fight for Nazi-looted art must continue
For more than 15 years, I and my law firm have been fortunate to have been provided the opportunity to handle, on behalf of the families of victims of the Holocaust, some of the most significant cases brought to recover artworks looted by the Nazi regime as part of its murderous programme to eliminate a whole race of people from the face of the earth. The efforts to recover Nazi-looted art have been well-publicised and reported on internationally. As a result, the sometimes enormous sums paid for recovered artworks at auction and elsewhere have also been widely covered, and some commentators have criticised the lawyers and researchers who have helped the claimants recover their art. Some even criticise the claimants themselves. Still others have begun calling claimants and their lawyers "bounty hunters" and referring to the "restitution industry" as a huge money-making operation. They reproach claimants for selling the works they recover, rather than donating them to museums and so proving that they are not "doing this just for the money". And I am not now speaking about extreme right-wing bloggers whose rants we might comfortably dismiss as antisemitic ravings. Rather, these type of comments have come from so-called legitimate sources. There's Jonathan Jones, an art writer for the Guardian and a former Turner Prize juror, who wrote in 2009: "A work of art should never, ever be taken away from a public museum without the strongest of reasons. Making good the crimes of the Nazis may seem just that - but it is meaningless. No horrors are reversed. Instead, historical threads are broken, paintings are taken away from the cities where they have the deepest meaning, and money is made by the art market." And then there is Sir Norman Rosenthal, former exhibitions secretary of the Royal Academy of Arts - and the son of Jewish refugees - writing in the Art Newspaper in 2008: "Grandchildren or distant relations of people who had works of art or property taken away by the Nazis do not now have an inalienable right to ownership, at the beginning of the 21st century. If valuable objects have ended up in the public sphere, even on account of the terrible facts of history, then that is the way it is."
That is the way it is? Added to this chorus is Bernd Schultz, director of Berlin's Villa Grisebach auction house, who in 2007 put it very simply: "They say 'Holocaust,' but mean money… In New York, some call this Shoah Business." In my view, such comments are offensive and lack any justification. Let us not forget that these artworks are being recovered for the heirs of their true owners. They were taken away from them by the murderers of the Third Reich, often in the course of carrying out the Final Solution. Who except the families of these owners have the right to decide what to do with their property? Regardless of whether these works are important to the world's culture, surely it is the choice of the claimants and the claimants alone as to whether they would like to donate or loan them to the great museums, sell them on the open market or keep them among their prized possessions? In other words, we should treat them with the same respect we accord to any other collector who owns a great artwork. Would we ever require that all those who own great art, but whose families did not lose it during the Holocaust, donate it to museums to prove that they are not greedy and selfish? How ironic and repulsive it is to criticise victims of the Nazis, who are not only trying to get back their own property but trying to correct in some small way the ghastly injustices of the Nazis. As for the researchers and lawyers who work for years on these cases, with no certainty of victory: is it improper for the claimants to pay them even if that means selling the artworks they have recovered? But the criticism of our work has not stopped there. A different attack was launched during the decade-long case to recover the "Portrait of Wally" by Egon Schiele, the first major case of its type heard in the US. We represented the Bondi Jaray estate in that case against the Leopold Museum of Vienna, and worked jointly with the US federal government throughout the case. It was brought by the government under the so-called forfeiture laws, based on our contention that "Wally" was wrongfully imported into the United States for temporary exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in violation of the National Stolen Property Act. It began with the US government's seizure of "Wally" at the Museum of Modern Art to prevent its return to Austria, pending the resolution of the case, which sent shock waves around the world. The case was finally resolved in 2010 by the payment of the artwork's full value by the Leopold Museum to Jaray's estate. The Leopold Museum also agreed to post a sign next to "Wally" wherever it is displayed, setting out the facts of its prior ownership and the lawsuit, and have it displayed at the Jewish Heritage Museum in New York for three weeks before it was returned to Austria. Throughout the decade of the court proceedings, we heard repeatedly from many quarters this simple question: why was the US government involved in the case at all? Why were substantial government resources being committed to what these same critics characterised as nothing more than a title dispute, one that should have been resolved in a civil lawsuit between the estate and the Leopold Museum? Indeed, the question entered into the lawsuit itself, when the two major American museum associations, and several important individual museums, joined as "friends of the court" on the side of the Leopold Museum and the Museum of Modern Art to urge the court to dismiss the case entirely. This line of questioning is critically important because it really raises the issue of whether governments should play a major role in trying to resolve Nazi-looted art claims. Despite the misgivings of many, it is clear that this action was both consistent with and fully promoted the express public policy interests of the US regarding Holocaust-looted art. As former US district court chief judge (and later Attorney General) Michael B Mukasey determined in one of the early decisions in the case: "On its face, [the National Stolen Property Act] proscribes the transportation in foreign commerce of all property over $5,000 known to be stolen or converted. Although the museum… would have it otherwise, art on loan to a museum - even a [so-called] 'world-renowned museum' - is not exempt." Explaining further, the court added that "if 'Wally' is stolen or converted, application of [the Act] will 'discourage both the receiving of stolen goods and the initial taking,' which was Congress's apparent purpose." The court concluded that there was "a strong federal interest in enforcing these laws". Indeed, it was the US government that led the way in urging governments around the world to seek ways to advance the policy of identifying art looted from the Nazis and returning it to its rightful owners. It convened a meeting of 44 nations at the Washington Conference in 1998, which adopted the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art. One principle states that pre-war owners and their heirs should be encouraged to come forward to make known their claims to art that was confiscated by the Nazis and not subsequently restituted, and another states that, once they do so, steps should be taken expeditiously to achieve a just and fair solution, recognising this may vary according to the facts and circumstances surrounding a specific case. Another principle adopted at the Washington Conference encouraged the resolution of these disputes by "alternative dispute resolution," where possible, to avoid long drawn-out litigation. Throughout the "Wally" case, there was much consternation expressed that it had not been settled much earlier and that such long litigation was exactly the wrong way to go about resolving Nazi-looted art claims. But it is important to understand that the government brought this action and seized "Wally" before it was about to be put on a plane to Austria and thus beyond the reach of any plausible attempt at resolution. The Austrian government, while adopting a law in 1998 that was purportedly designed to ensure the careful review of claims for Nazi-looted artworks, had determined that, as a "private foundation", the Leopold Museum was not covered by this - despite the fact that the Austrian government provided a substantial amount of the Leopold Museum's funding and appointed half of its board of directors. In any court case, it is of course usually in all the parties' best interest to reach a mutually acceptable resolution as early as possible. But, as is often the case, it is only after the court issues a decision resolving many of the issues - as happened in the "Wally" case in autumn 2009 - that the parties become clearly focused on what is going to be the likely outcome of the case. But regardless of how long it took, securing the artwork in the US, certainly promoted the government's interest in fairly resolving these cases and preventing the trafficking of stolen Holocaust property. The Washington Conference led eventually to the Holocaust Era Assets Conference, held in Prague in 2009, at which 46 nations adopted the Terezin Declaration. That pronouncement makes clear that Holocaust-looted art claims should be resolved on their merits ,without regard to so-called technical defences like the statute of limitations. But this has led to criticism as well. At a series of US State Department-organised meetings, although the museum community joined calls for the resolution of Nazi-looted art claims on this basis, they raised an objection. The museum representatives made clear that they retained the right to move to dismiss cases on the grounds of the statute of limitations, if they have made the determination in particular cases that the claims in the case lacked merit. Thus, rather than allow these claims to be determined on their merits before a court of law, these museums would rather play the role of judge and jury themselves once they are convinced that they are right. Clearly, there is still much work to be done to reach a consensus on this matter. One commentator, Eric Gibson, who well understood the true significance of the efforts to recover these precious belongings for the families of the original owners, once asked the question: "Why do we bother with recovering [Nazi-looted art] at all? Plundering is, after all, the handmaiden of war. And the world's museums are filled with objects lifted during conflicts from the Romans on." Gibson's answer to his own question eloquently describes just why the recovery of these looted artworks is so critically important: "Why do we bother? [Because] the Nazis weren't simply out to enrich themselves. Their looting was part of the Final Solution. They wanted to eradicate a race by extinguishing its culture as well as its people. This gives these works of art a unique resonance, the more so since some of them were used as barter for safe passage out of Germany or Austria for family members. The objects are symbols of a terrible crime; recovering them is an equally symbolic form of justice." And even more poignant are the words of Henry Bondi, the now-deceased former leader of the family of Lea Bondi Jaray, on whose behalf we sought the recovery of "Wally": "You ask did they kill, yes they killed. They killed for art, when it suited them. So killing Jews and confiscating art somehow went together." Earlier this week, on Monday, we observed Yom Hashoah, the Day of Holocaust Remembrance, and we recently commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938, which ushered in the nightmare of the Holocaust for the huge number of Jews and other victims of Nazism who lived there and in and so many other places. Shame on those who would prefer that we forget history and forgo our efforts to try in some small way to right the terrible wrongs fomented in its darkest hours.
Magistrates strip more than £14k from Derby antiques dealer
MAGISTRATES in Derby have stripped more than £14,000 from an antiques dealer who could not prove he had made the cash legitimately. At a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act on Wednesday, April 10 magistrates made a forfeiture order to strip £14,185 from the 59-year-old man. He was also ordered to pay £7,232 costs. The act gives the police the power to take offenders to court and strip them of cash and assets if they cannot prove they have obtained it legitimately. The money seized is split between the Treasury and police, Court Services and the Crown Prosecution Service.
The case against the man began in February 2011, when officers searched his antiques business in Derby and found suspected stolen items including Royal Crown Derby. Police also found more than £14,000 in cash at the business and the man’s home for which he had no receipts or paperwork. The man was arrested in April 2011 on suspicion of handling stolen goods and money laundering as part of Operation Lurcher. Operation Lurcher was an initiative to tackle the stolen goods market in the Derby area. Warrants were executed at businesses and homes across the city and south Derbyshire and thousands of pounds were seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act. No criminal charges were brought against the man by the CPS but Derbyshire Constabulary’s Financial Investigation Unit took the case to Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court where the money was forfeited. Detective Sergeant Craig Hughes said: “Even where no criminal proceeds are brought against a person, if they cannot prove they had the cash or goods legitimately we can still get them removed at court.
Man sought after antiques raid
CCTV image Credit: Cambridgeshire PolicePOLICE in Ely have released an image of a man they want to speak to in connection with the theft of antique jewellery. A display cabinet was broken into at Waterside Antiques shortly after 10am, on Friday, March 29. Now police have released a CCTV image of a man they want to trace in connection with the theft.
Grantham court: Jail for man who aimed to sell stolen antiques
One man was jailed and another received a suspended prison sentence for handling stolen jewellery and antiques which they wanted to sell to make money for Christmas.
Liam Curtis, 23, of Lymn Court, Grantham, was jailed for 16 weeks after admitting possessing stolen goods. Clive Taylor, 24, of Thames Road, Grantham, was handed a 16-week sentence suspended for 12 months for the same offence and a two-week concurrent sentence, also suspended, for possessing cannabis. He was also ordered to pay an £80 victim surcharge. A third person, Sarah Taylor, admitted receiving stolen goods and was fined £70 with £85 costs and £20 victim surcharge. Prosecuting, Marie Stace told the court that the three were stopped in a Fiat Punto car in Trent Road by police on November 20 last year, because they were driving without lights. Clive Taylor admitted he had a spliff in his hoodie which he handed to one of the officers and it was identified as cannabis. The police found bags containing the antiques and jewellery in the boot and footwell of the car. The defendants told the officers they had bought the items off a “tall ginger skaghead”. Miss Stace said Curtis told officers the items were to be sold for scrap to get cash for Christmas. Clive Taylor tried to escape from the officers but was quickly caught. A ring was later found at his address and a bag containing a camera and a GPS tracker was found during a search of Sarah Taylor’s. These had been stolen in a burglary in Redmile Walk. Miss Stace told the court that Sarah Taylor said she had bought the car on November 16 and then found the bag containing the camera and tracker in the boot. She put the bag in a cupboard under the stairs at her address, intending to take it back to the car company from which she had bought the vehicle. Miss Stace said Taylor had never gone back to the company or made any inquiries about the items. Clive Taylor had said the property had been bought for £100 and that the cannabis was for his own use. In interview, Curtis had also said he and Clive Taylor had bought the items for £100. The property was later returned to its owners. Rob Arthur, for all three defendants, said: “For Mr Taylor and Mr Curtis it was the old adage ‘never look a gift horse in the mouth’ as this had come back to bite them. “They were stopped in the vehicle and accept they bought the items for £100 to try to sell them and make money for Christmas.” He said Sarah Taylor agreed for police to search her property and they found the bag containing the camera and tracker which she now accepts she was asked to look after. Mr Arthur said: “The fact is she turned a blind eye and will face the consequences.” Clive Taylor and Curtis were sentenced after magistrates read probation reports. Curtis, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, had previously said it was unlikely he could complete a community service and was prepared for a prison sentence.
Police recover stolen dolls, cologne and after-shave
RCMP say $2,000 worth of antique goods stolen in Ingomar area
The stolen goods will now be returned to their owner who no longer lives in Canada. (RCMP)
The RCMP say they’ve found $2,000 worth of antique goods that were stolen in September, 2011 in Shelburne County. The items include 9 antique dolls and 21 antique colognes and after-shaves. Police said they’re owned by an elderly woman who no longer lives in Canada. Police said the items were taken during a break in. No one has been arrested, but police said they are “assessing intelligence” in connection to the case.
Unusual theft from Art Gallery of Ballarat
THEFT: Art Gallery of Ballarat director Gordon Morrison looks at the empty spot in Alfred Deakin's desk where a decorative item used to sit. PICTURE: JEREMY BANNISTER
A RARE decorative object connected to Australia's second Prime Minister Alfred Deakin has been stolen from the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Gallery director Gordon Morrison said the theft of the object, a small decorative circular wooden table lid, might have resembled something from the Da Vinci Code but it was actually worthless on its own. The tragic thing was that its removal seriously compromised the integrity and value of the table it belonged to, he said. "You look at (the lid) and think that could be the key to something - but its not," he said. "It's got no monetary significance and we just want it back." The table was owned by Alfred Deakin, one of the fathers of the Federation, and Federal Member for Ballarat who was Prime Minster of Australia for three terms. It is an example of 'treen', highly detailed and intricate micro-mosaic work in wood. The table's creator Frederick Edwin Strangward was known for his mathematically intricate designs and the mosaic work on it contains more than two million tiny pieces of wood, some of which are less than half a millimetres thick. Mr Morrison said he believed the theft to be a result of impulse, rather than an organised heist. "I think it's someone on impulse has twisted it, found that it's loose and has pocketed it," he said. "I don't think it's a criminal that has come here thinking it's a valuable object and has stolen it." An image of the missing lid. The rare example of Australian woodwork was given to the gallery by a Deakin descendant in 1998 and has been on public display in the Crouch Gallery, the room dedicated to the art of the Heidelberg School and the Federation era. The lid was removed sometime between 2pm on Thursday afternoon and 2pm on Saturday afternoon. The room the table was in is covered by CCTV and tapes of the footage from those days are being examined by the Ballarat police. "This is an object that has no great inherent value and it is certainly not something that would be easy to sell," Mr Morrison said. "I would appeal to whoever has it to return this important piece of our cultural heritage." If anyone knows anything about its removal, they should contact Leading Senior Constable Dana Mollison at the Ballarat police station or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Jewellery and watch theft (Glastonbury)
Image
One of the stolen watches
A reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of jewellery and watches worth £60,000 stolen in Glastonbury.
The items were taken overnight from a van parked at the Travelodge in Wirrall Park. The owners, from Cornwall, were staying there having been to an antiques fair at the Bath and West showground.
The stolen items include valuable watches by Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe and Zenith. Rings, chains, bracelets and brooches were among the jewellery items taken.
Mobile developer convicted in stolen antiques
case pleads guilty in hunting lodge theft
View full sizeFrom left to right, Matthew Boykin Walker, Timothy Smith and Kristopher Joseph Ambrose pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges on Thursday, April 18, 2013, in Mobile, Alabama. Walker, who was on probation for a 2010 receiving stolen property charge, also faces possible prison time in state court.
MOBILE, Alabama – A developer who admitted to harboring more than $500,000 in stolen antiques and furniture pleaded guilty today to a federal gun charge involving a break-in at his uncle’s hunting camp. According to court records, Matthew Boykin Walker and co-defendant Timothy Smith went to the hunting lodge in McIntosh and stole a safe. Smith, who claims he did not know what was in the safe until they already had removed it, also pleaded guilty today. Smith admitted to receiving money that was in the safe, although the defendants disagree about how much. Smith’s attorney maintains it was $300; Walker’s lawyer said it was $4,000. A third man who pleaded guilty today, Kristopher Joseph Ambrose, admitted that he ground off the serial numbers of the 17 firearms. He pleaded guilty to possession of firearms without serial numbers and faces up to five year in prison. There are other disagreements. Walker, according to defense attorney John White, maintains that it was Smith who asked him for help removing the safe in February. Smith’s plea agreement suggests that it was Walker who set the theft in motion. From a legal standpoint, it makes little difference. Smith is guilty of possession of stolen firearms and faces up to 10 years in prison. Walker, because of his previous conviction in the antiques case, is a felon barred by law from having guns. He faces the same maximum prison term. U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose scheduled sentencing for all three men in July. In an interview, White said his client brought the guns to his mother’s house and called his uncle, Bob Boykin, to return the firearms. “His uncle didn’t show up at the condo,” White said. “The police did.” Walker, 63, pleaded guilty in 2010 to four counts of receiving stolen property that included antique marble fireplace mantles, crystal bowls, sculptures, a flat screen TV, chandeliers, a Victorian sofa and family heirlooms passed down for generations. Investigators found the items stashed in a pair of homes. In 2011, Mobile County Circuit Judge Joseph “Rusty” Johnston imposed a 10-year suspended sentence and ordered the defendant to spend three years on probation and perform 500 hours of community service. His attorney at the time described him as extremely remorseful for his actions. Mobile County prosecutors have filed paperwork seeking to revoke Walker’s probation and send him to prison. A hearing is set for next month. White said he hopes the judge in that case will let his client serve the prison sentence at the same time as his federal punishment, but the attorney said he anticipates push-back from local prosecutors. Said Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich, “We will leave it to the judge whether it’s consecutive or concurrent time. But we will definitely seek revocation.” Walker comes from the prominent Boykin family and was a fixture in elite social circles. His son was a knight in the 2008 Mardi Gras royal court of the Mobile Carnival Association. Walker developed subdivisions in west Mobile and co-founded a Tunica, Mississippi, casino in 1992. Law enforcement officials found the stolen antiques and furniture at Walker’s secluded house on Jeff Hamilton Road in west Mobile County and a house he was renovating on Rochester Road near the University of South Alabama. More than 80 of the items had been stolen from a single house on Spring Hill Avenue. The haul from the hunting lodge was extensive: 14 shotguns, a Colt .38-caliber revolver, a Savage .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol and a Forehand & Wadsworth revolver, according to court records.
Art Nouveau trove to go under hammer in Switzerland
A employee of the "Hotel des Ventes" auction house presents Art Nouveau style vases by Galle during a press preview on April 17, 2013 at the Castle of Gingins, Western Switzerland. Nine years after an amazing theft of 15 priceless works by glass maker Emile Galle, the rest of the Art Nouveau collection of the Neumann family will be auctioned.
GENEVA — A decade after thieves stole a haul of Art Nouveau glassworks in a lightning raid on an exhibition, legitimate collectors will have a chance to bid for the remaining trove of the Swiss-based Neumann family. Due to go under the hammer on April 27 in the medieval castle of Gingins, a hillside village overlooking Lake Geneva, the 500 lots include other glassworks, furniture and paintings. According to Geneva's Hotel des Ventes auctioneers, who are handling next week's sale, the estimated value is between a million and 1.5 million Swiss francs (800,000-1.25 million euros, $1.1-1.6 million). The sale was organised by the heirs of Czech-born couple Lotar Neumann, who died in 1992, and his wife Vera, who passed away earlier this year. The castle was their home. Born in 1918, Lotar was the son of a wealthy Jewish industrialist in Prague. He escaped Nazi Germany's clutches during World War II thanks to a false identity, and in 1948 married Vera, who was eight years his junior. The same year, a communist regime took over what was then Czechoslovakia, and the Neumanns emigrated to Venezuela. Starting from scratch, they founded a paint and dye factory which was to make their fortune. Nostalgic for their European past, they had begun collecting posters of the works of Czech Art Nouveau icon Alfons Mucha, and eventually their wealth enabled them gradually to buy original pieces. In 1960, the Neumanns decided to move back to Europe, setting up home in Switzerland and buying the Gingins castle two years later. They continued to collect art over the ensuing decades. Two years after Lotar's death, Vera set up the Neumann Foundation which was dedicated to putting their prize works in display in regular exhibitions in the castle. It was as such an event in October 2004 that the thieves struck, making off with 15 works by French master glassmaker Emile Galle worth an estimated four million Swiss francs at the time. Among them were five of Galle's dragonfly-motif cups, made in 1904 and seen as a touchstone of the Art Nouveau movement. The gang members -- who like the stolen artworks have never been tracked down -- took just five minutes to raid the exhibition. The shocked Neumann Foundation decided to close its doors to the public after the robbery. In addition to the art up for auction, the castle is also on sale, with unconfirmed information suggesting it has been valued at 35 million Swiss francs.
Cocaine smuggler loses appeal against 30-year sentence
Perry Wharrie imprisoned for part in €440m Dunlough Bay drug seizure in 2007
Perry Wharrie (53) was one of four men jailed in Ireland for their part in the bungled Dunlough Bay drug-smuggling operation off Mizen Head in West Cork in July 2007. Photograph: Julien Behal/PA Wire
A member of an international organised crime gang behind the largest seizure of cocaine ever found in the State has lost his appeal against the severity of his 30-year sentence.
Perry Wharrie (53) was one of four men jailed for their part in the bungled Dunlough Bay drug-smuggling operation off Mizen Head in West Cork in July 2007. Perrrie was jailed for 30 years.
The plan to smuggle €440 million worth of cocaine into Ireland for shipment on to the UK came unstuck when a gang member put diesel in the petrol engine of their boat.
The engine cut out and the boat was left to the mercy of the waves with 1.5 tonnes of cocaine being tossed into the choppy seas of Dunlough Bay.
Wharrie, from Pyrles Lane, Loughton, Essex, was arrested two days later near Schull and was later charged along with three others in connection with the huge drugs haul.
He was convicted of possessing €440 million worth of cocaine for sale or supply following a lengthy trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in 2008.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin sentenced Wharrie to 30 years in jail along with a co-accused, Martin Wanden, of no fixed abode, while Joe Daly from Bexley, Kent was jailed for 25 years.
A fourth accused, Gerard Hagan from Hollowcroft in Merseyside, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the operation and was later jailed for 10 years.
Wharrie appealed the record sentence last February at the Court of Criminal Appeal before Mr Justice MacMenamin, Mr Justice de Valera and Mr Justice McGovern.
The three-judge court set aside two days to hear Wharrie's appeal but reserved their judgment.
Belgian police arrest 31 after major diamond heist
A Belgian prosecutor has said that a total of 31 people were arrested, most of them in Belgium, in connection with the February diamond heist at Brussels Airport. She said money and stones were seized in the raids.
The raids in Switzerland and Belgium were made when it was discovered that an “important gangster” was in Geneva. Police and the organized crime unit/brigade de répression du banditisme (BRB) have been working closely with police in Brussels for the past two months to uncover the trail of the diamonds, estimated by Belgian police at the time of the robbery to be worth 40 million euros.
Belgian, French and Swiss police conducted a series of raids and arrested 31 suspects in connection with February's major diamond robbery from a plane set to leave Brussels Airport. Belgian prosecutor Anja Bijnens said at a news conference that one person was arrested in France, six in Switzerland and a further 24 in Belgium.
A suspected member of the eight-man gang, who posed as armed police and seized the stones from a cargo plane on the runway, was picked up in France on Tuesday. This was apparently the catalyst for further mobilization.
"The probe led to a big police operation yesterday," a spokesman for the Brussels prosecutor's office, Jean-Marc Meilleur, said on Wednesday. Subsequent early morning raids involved more than 200 Belgian police officers and "recovered big amounts of cash," he said.
His colleague Bijnens said that as well as the seizure of currency in Belgium, some of the diamonds were recovered in Switzerland, neither of them went into detail on the amounts.
The Antwerp World Diamond Center had estimated the value of the gems stolen on February 18 at $50 million (38.1 million euros). The northern Belgian city of Antwerp is one of the world's key diamond hubs. The group of eight men had cut a hole in a fence at the Zavantem airport in Brussels. They drove through in imitation police vehicles with flashing sirens and themselves wore mock police uniforms and masks. The armed men then snatched 120 parcels from a diamond shipment that was being loaded from a security truck onto a plane bound for Switzerland. The apparently professional band made it in and out within minutes and never fired a shot. Prosecutor Meilleur said the man initially arrested in France was thought to be among the airport robbers. "This person has a very heavy judicial background in France and his extradition to Belgium has been requested, Meilleur said. msh/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
Exclusive: Britain's largest seize of stolen artifacts since Egypt's revolution
British police arrest a UK-based businessman on suspicion of looting Egyptian antiquities. The Scotland Yard's Art & Antiquities Squad (AAS) made the arrest on Friday, 3 May when international arts auction house, Christie's, reported that it had identified some antiquities which are almost certainly stolen from Egypt recently. This is one of the biggest operations of its kind since the Egyptian revolution exploded in 2011, well-informed sources confirm to Ahram Online. Christie's experts, the British museum's Egyptology department, the Egyptian embassy in London and the Art Loss Register worked closely for weeks to identify six stolen objects. The AAS is now trying to determine how these objects left Egypt, how the seller came to possess them and who his accomplices are. Ahram Online understands that the seller (now in custody) claims he had inherited the Egyptian objects from his uncle. He told the international auctioneer that his uncle served in Egypt during WWII and stayed on for a few years before returning to the UK in the '50s. These objects were due to be sold at a Christie's auction on 2 May in London. "Christie's works closely with international authorities and organisations towards our shared objective of preventing the illicit trade in improperly exported or stolen works of art," Christie's Director of Communications Matthew Paton tells Ahram Online. Paton pledged extra vigilance considering Egyptian antiquities authorities' concerns after the 2011 revolution and also to do their utmost to get these objects back to Egypt. He also emphasised that Christie's believes in strict internal policies to thoroughly research the provenance of any item consigned for sale. The Egyptian Embassy in London confirmed to Ahram Online it is in constant contact with the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities in order to file the proper documents to repatriate the stolen antiquities. One of the stolen objects is a recent find from Amenhotep III in Western Thebes. Made of Egyptian red granite, the relief fragment depicts a Nubian prisoner, facing right, with short hair and wearing heavy hooped earrings and a collar necklace (1550 - 1069 BC). Another is an Egyptian painted limestone relief fragment depicting a male figure with his head facing left. Experts say it is very likely to have originated from a recently-rediscovered and excavated tomb, again in Thebes. Egyptian Ambassador to the UK Ashraf El-kholy praised Christie's vigilance and willingness to investigate the provenance of the Egyptian objects. "Without their support and cooperation, we would not have been able to spot and get these invaluable antiquities back," he told Ahram Online.
Operation 'to catch a thief’ catches art theft on video
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen M. Rice on Monday announced the indictment of Joselito Vega, 42, for money laundering as part of a stolen art scheme. Vega, from Eastern Pennsylvania, allegedly stole the paintings from a Kings Point, Long Island, estate that he was hired to paint and selling at least one of them. Then, he laundered the money he received by getting his ex-sister-in-law to cash the check in Brooklyn, according to the charges. Vega was indicted in the Brooklyn case on charges of money laundering, identity theft and grand larceny. In Nassau County, Vega faces separate charges of grand larceny. Hynes said, “The defendant tried to launder the proceeds from the stolen art in Brooklyn. Investigators were able to track down one of the works in an Oakland art gallery. It obviously raises a red flag when you are selling a $50,000 painting for less than $10,000.” “The Schulhof Estate spent decades gathering and protecting hundreds of pieces of artwork, yet where others saw incredible beauty in these paintings, Joselito Vega only saw the opportunity to make a quick buck,” Rice said. In March 2011, Vega was working for Zimmer Painting, Inc, and was assigned to a job at the Schulhof Estate in Kings Point. The Schulhof Collection includes more than 300 works of art. Approximately one year later, when the Schulhof Estate performed an inventory, they realized that three works were missing. An investigation, dubbed Operation To Catch a Thief, found that one painting was given to the Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland, Calif., to sell. Throughout the interactions between the defendant and the art gallery, he used his ex-sister-in-law’s name without her knowledge, and had the check for the sale of the work addressed to her and sent to a private mailbox in Bay Ridge, according to the DA’s Office. Further investigation revealed that the Bay Ridge mailbox belonged to Vega under the name Danny Vega. Vega then asked his ex-sister-in-law to set up a bank account in her name so that she could cash the check for him. He used the excuse that he receives Social Security benefits and did not want to lose the benefits if the state found out that he received that sum of money. Detectives from the Kings County District Attorney’s Office set up a sting operation to catch him in the act. On April 29, Vega was hired to do another job at the estate in Kings Point. Works of art were placed in the home, and hidden cameras were set up. Vega was caught on video taking three works, including a $10,000 Pablo Picasso etching, “Three Graces II.” He was soon arrested by detective investigators. In total, the six paintings that Vega is alleged to have stolen are worth over $100,000.
Antiques worth £30,000 stolen from Birdlip
POLICE are urging collectors and traders to be on the lookout after antiques valued at £30,000 were stolen in an overnight burglary at a house in Birdlip. The items, including a plate, two teapot creamers and sugar bowls, a toast rack, two holders and a ladle – all made from silver – were taken after the house was broken into between 11pm on April 25 and 8am the following day. Once inside, the thieves also stole two Chinese figurines and a canteen of cutlery, along with a Sony laptop, a handbag and a wallet.
Investigating officers are urging antique collectors and traders to keep an eye out for the antiques and to contact police if they see them or are offered any for sale.
Antiques worth millions stolen from ex-minister
Colombo: Robbers have stolen nearly Rs5.4million [Dh0.1million] worth 300-years-old wall clock and an antique oil lamp (6.5ft) also worth a few millions from the residence of former finance minister Ronie de Mel residence at Geekiyanakandawatte, Matara.
Police had found those expensive time piece and the lamp to be sold to a hardware shop for mere Rs 8,000.
The police found them the antiques being discarded in the iron warehouse.
The suspects, the hardware stores owner and few others have been arrested.
Madonna sells Leger painting for $7.2m
Madonna bought Leger's Trois Femmes a la Table Rouge for £2.2m in 1990
A painting by Fernand Leger owned by Madonna has been sold for $7.2 million (£4.7m) in New York.
The singer bought the 1921 Cubist work, Three Women at the Red Table, in 1990 for $3.4m (£2.2m). According to Sotheby's, proceeds from the sale "will benefit Madonna's Ray of Light Foundation, supporting girls' education projects in the Middle East and South Asia". "Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!" said the pop star on Facebook. Before Tuesday's sale, Madonna said she wanted "to trade something valuable for something invaluable - educating girls".
Cezanne's Les Pommes fetched the highest price in the Sotheby's spring sale
The sale formed part of a Sotheby's sale of Impressionist and modern art that took more than $230m (£148.6m). Les Pommes, a still life from by French artist Paul Cezanne, fetched the highest price, selling for $41.6m (£26.9m). L'Amazone, a portrait of French socialite Baroness Marguerite de Hasse de Villers by Amedeo Modigliani, went for $25.9m (£16.7m). A Pablo Picasso sculpture of his young muse Sylvette, meanwhile, sold for $13.6m (£8.8m). Overall the auction failed to live up to last year's event, which saw a version of Edvard Munch's The Scream sell for a world record $119.9m (£77.4m).
Cleaning lady pleads guilty in $3M Montco art theft
A former cleaning lady Monday admitted to her role in the theft of what prosecutors described as a “priceless” porcelain Ben Franklin bust that was in pieces when authorities took her into custody. The owner of the art said its value is at least $3 million. Andrea Lawton, 47, formerly of Philadelphia, entered an open guilty plea in Montgomery County Court to charges of theft and burglary. An open plea means there is no agreement on a sentence between the prosecution and the defense and that Lawton is essentially throwing herself on the mercy of the court. Judge Carolyn T. Carluccio postponed sentencing until she can learn more about Lawton’s background. Lawton and an accomplice she has repeatedly refused to name broke into a Lower Merion home in the 600 block of Black Rock Road, Lower Merion, on Aug. 24. While Lawton waited outside in the car, she directed the accomplice to the 25-pound bust, one of only four created in 1778 by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon while Franklin was visiting Paris. Lawton, who previously had performed cleaning services at the home, knew the bust was valuable because all members of the cleaning crews sent to the home by the service that had employed her were advised of its value, according to court documents. Also missing from the home was a framed autograph picture of composer Victor Herbert that included one of his conductor batons and a handwritten listing of his compositions, according to court documents. Lawton has never admitted to the theft of this item, which has an estimated value of $80,000. Lawton, who was nabbed by authorities on Sept. 21 on her way to sell the bust to an unknown party in Elkton, Md., said she stole the bust because she wanted to “get back” at the head of the cleaning service and “get her fired” because the agency head had fired Lawton, according to court documents. “She broke a priceless piece of artwork that was made while Benjamin Franklin was still alive,” said county First Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, who said he would be seeking a “significant” sentence for Lawton. The bust, which its owner estimated had a value of at least $3 million, is now at a New York museum where work is under way to repair it, said Steele. Two other reasons for seeking a stiff sentence, said Steele, are the second item still has not been recovered nor has Lawton named her accomplice. Montgomery County Defense attorney Michael John said he will recommend that any county sentence his client receives be served concurrently with the federal sentence she is handed next month. Lawton is facing a maximum 20-year federal sentence after pleading guilty in that court to transporting stolen artwork across state lines. “This is all one event,” said John, adding that his client is remorseful for her actions and that the two guilty pleas reflect her willingness to take responsibility for her actions.
FIVE prisoners have made a dramatic escape from a Swiss jail, using weapons passed from accomplices on the outside to threaten guards and other inmates before scaling the prison wall and disappearing, police say. "There is an active manhunt for them, and they are listed as wanted both at a national and an international level," police in the canton of Vaud said in a statement. The five men, one Frenchman, an Albanian, a Bosnian, a Kosovar, as well as Serbian member of the "Pink Panther" gang of international jewel thieves, took just five minutes to get away, the investigators said. Around 10.20am on Tuesday they were in the walled in courtyard at the Bois-Mermet prison on the outskirts of Lausanne with some 30 other inmates when three masked accomplices on the outside climbed a ladder and threw a bag filled with weapons and other items into the yard. Grabbing the gun from the bag, the five men threatened the other detainees and the guards and sprayed them with some kind of irritant to keep them away as they used pliers from the bag to cut a hole in the fence blocking their access to the prison wall, which they then climbed using a ladder provided by their accomplices, police said. A sixth inmate tried to follow them, but guards managed to hold him back as he was climbing the ladder. The escapees and their accomplices fled the scene in two vehicles.
Car used in Wafi City robbery on show at Dubai Police Museum
Police chief wants the public to view the car used in one of the most professional robberies in Dubai Police’s history.
Image Credit: Dubai Police
The Pink Panther gang used this car during a high-profile robbery in Wafi City mall in Dubai. It will be on display at the Dubai Police Museum.
Image Credit: Courtesy: Dubai Police
Dubai police are displaying at the Dubai police museum the car used during the armed robbery that happened at Wafi mall, this car used by the robbers to hid the jewelries inside. The car was found later on in Al Muraqabbat area. The jeweleries were kept in the right door of the car.
Dubai: Seven years after the daring armed robbery that took place at Wafi City, Dubai Police are to display the car used by the gang at the Dubai Police Museum.
Following the police’s purchase of the car from the rental company who owned it, the Commander in Chief of Dubai Police, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has given instructions to allow the local community and museum-goers to view the car used in one of the most professional robberies in Dubai Police’s history. The robbers belonged to the notorious Pink Panther gang.
Fake jewellery, similar to the goods stolen, are displayed inside the car.
Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Director of the Dubai Police Criminal and Investigation Department (CID), said the robbers hid jewellery worth millions of dirhams from Graff jewellers, one of the most expensive outlets in Dubai, inside the car.
Brigadier Al Mansouri said the robbers, who fled the country, kept the jewellery inside the rented car and parked it under a building in Al Muraqqabat.
Brigadier Al Mansouri said the police suspected the car had been used by the gang. He added what made police suspicious was the gang extended the car rental and paid for it using credit card accounts abroad.
Unique pieces
He added the police mobilised 32 police patrols to monitor the car round the clock. “A few weeks after the monitoring of the car, one of the gang members who was sent back to Dubai by the gang to collect the stolen jewellery was caught by police as he was trying to open the car,” said Brigadier Al Mansouri.
He added that after arresting the suspect and searching the vehicle, the police were unable to find any jewellery. However, with an additional search and after dismantling parts of the car, they spotted it.
Brigadier Al Mansouri said the jewellery had been hidden inside the car’s left front door.
“Any car that has been used in similar robberies will not have its registration renewed and the car will not be used again. However, this car has become one of the unique pieces kept on display at the Dubai Police Museum to reflect the efforts of Dubai Police in arresting one of the most dangerous and organised gangs in modern history,” he said.
The museum is located at Dubai Police Headquarters, Al Twar.
A Look Inside The Crimes Of The World’s Most Powerful Thieves
Clandestine societies have existed for centuries, conducting their business behind the scenes of the public eye. One of these societies is the Pink Panthers – a secret group of elite thieves that originate from the Eastern European countries of Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. The Pink Panthers are a gang of jewel thieves responsible for some of the most glamorous armed robberies in history. Criminologists even refer to their bold style and intricate planning as artistry. They have targeted various countries, and have Japan’s most successful robbery on their theft resume. Within a span of six years during the 21st century, the Pink Panthers have burglarized 120 stores in twenty different countries In 1993, the gang gained prominence when they stole an $800,000 diamond from a jeweler in London. The name “Pink Panther” was awarded to the thieves by Interpol after they hid the diamond in a jar of face cream resembling an act from the film: “Return of the Pink Panther.” Their attention to detail and efficient execution of their plans is the reason behind their high success rate. For example, before a heist in Biarritz, the gang coated a bench adjacent to the jewelry store in fresh paint to deter people from sitting on – a clever way to keep away potential witnesses to the heist.
Although the Pink Panthers are not only known for their successful rate of robberies. They have also been notarized for their daring break-ins as well as their creative escapes. For example, in St. Tropez they burglarized a store dressed in flowery shirts and then escaped on a speed boat. In another one high-profile heist, the gang drove a pair of stolen limousines through a window into a Dubai mall, taking watches and other valuables worth over $12.5 million. In another robbery, they dressed up as women and stole over $100 million worth of jewelry from a Harry Winston store in Paris, using Mission Impossible-style prosthetic make-up as a disguise. The most interesting feature of the Pink Panthers is that they do not use weapons. Many of their heists are below 45 seconds, and are done without the use of guns – this leaves the civilians around them untouched. This is truly a considerate group of thieves: why hurt anyone that has nothing to do with the heist?
The Pink Panthers are such a secretive group of thieves that only continues to expand throughout Eastern Europe and make record breaking heists. Although several gang members have been imprisoned, the identity of the majority of the members still remains questionary. Interpol is having trouble dealing with the organization. How can you catch someone that you do not know really exists? The alleged leader of the gang, Dragan Mikic, was arrested in the early 2000′s. However, in true Pink Panther fashion Dragan escaped from prison in 2005. He scaled a rope ladder while Pink Panthers fired machine guns at the prison wall. Thus, Dragan completed a successful escape. He has been on the run ever since. The group is thought to consist of over two hundred members. Therefore, it is safe to say that a majority of their heists have been successful and many of the members have simply gotten away with their crimes. Their total haul is believed to be in the billions of dollars.
The real Bling Ring? Life imitates art at Cannes as expensive jewellery is stolen
Chopard is one of Cannes Film Festival’s official sponsors Or should that be life imitating art imitating life? Either way, thousands of pounds worth of jewellery has been stolen at Cannes Film Festival, around the same time that The Bling Ring premiered, a film about a gang stealing thousands of pounds worth of jewellery. Surely this is a particularly elaborate PR stunt I hear you cry? Not so, with French police confirming the burglary, which took place at a Novotel hotel room. A safe was ripped off the wall and carried away, according to police sources, its $1m (£650,ooo) contents belonging to Swiss jeweller Chopard.
The Bling Ring premiered in Cannes yesterday (May 16)The jewellery was intended to be loaned to celebrities attending the annual film festival. The Bling Ring is based on a Vanity Fair article that profiled a gang of teenagers who immersed themselves in celebrity life before using the opportunities it presented to steal expensive jewels and possessions from stars, with Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and more allegedly being stung. The BBC reports that the robbery has all the hallmarks of a classic Riviera heist.
Cannes jewel heist: Notorious 'Pink Panthers' gang suspected of million-dollar raid
Cops believe a mob - who have targeted the awards ceremony before - were behind the theft of gems worth over £656,000
Crime scene: A police car is parked outside the Novotel Hotel, Cannes
Getty
A notorious international gang of thieves are suspected of pulling a million-dollar jewel heist at the Cannes Film Festival. Detectives in the South of France believe a mob called the Pink Panthers – who have targeted the awards ceremony before – were behind yesterday’s theft of gems worth over £656,000. The daring raid was carried out right under the noses of detectives as the jewels were stolen from a hotel directly opposite Cannes’ main police station. The necklaces, bracelets and other valuable pieces, were destined to be worn by celebrities including British model Cara Delevingne, singer Cheryl Cole and actress Carey Mulligan. It is believed the crime ring targeted a room at the Novotel, where the gems were being kept in a safe by an employee of Swiss luxury jewellers Chopard. The metal strongbox was ripped from the wall at around 5am yesterday morning. The female employee staying in the room was yesterday being quizzed by detectives, but has not been arrested.
Bling: Cara Delevingne was due to wear some of the jewels
WireImage
She was part of a 40-strong Chopard team, responsible for loaning valuables to stars for red carpet events and A-list parties at the film festival. The woman had a meal out with friends and colleagues on Thursday evening until the early hours. A police source on the French Riviera yesterday revealed: “The room was said to be empty.” Commandant Bernard Mascarelli, of the Nice police force, said the safe must have been hidden from view as it left the second-floor room. Detectives suspect the jewels have been transported to a safe house or yacht in the Mediterranean harbour or may even have been shipped to another country already. Forces across Europe were last night placed on high alert for any information linked to the theft. Chopard is one of the Cannes Film Festival’s key sponsors. It designs the prestigious Palme d’Or award handed out to the director of the best film at each year’s event. The firm yesterday declined to comment on the theft, but as police combed the hotel and scrutinised CCTV footage for clues, sources speculated that the Pink Panthers were behind the heist.
The crack gang of thieves, responsible for over £253million worth of jewellery thefts since 1999, has been linked to several previous raids on Cannes’ boutiques and hotels. Many take place while celebs are walking the red carpet at the annual festival, where stars this year included supermodel Cindy Crawford and Hollywood actress Julianne Moore – who wore a Chopard ring to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Great Gatsby premiere. Some detectives suspect the gang may have watched last year’s glittering event as they planned for yesterday’s heist. It bears some resemblance to the plot of movie The Bling Ring, which was premiered the same night as the raid. The crime drama, starring Harry Potter actress Emma Watson and directed by Sofia Coppola, is based on a true story about teenagers who use the internet to track celebs so they can raid their homes.
Last year, French footballer Souleymane Diawara and Turkish ace Mamadou Niang lost jewels and watches worth £350,000 after thieves broke into their rented villa while they were out enjoying the festivities. In 2011, Argentinian film producer and Cannes judge Martina Gusman, had cash and valuables stolen from her room at the Marriott hotel. In 2009, the Cannes’ Cartier boutique had more than £15million worth of jewels stolen by robbers wearing Hawaiian shirts. That same year a Chopard store on the Place Vendome was also raided for over £6million worth of jewels. The Pink Panthers are named after the elusive jewellery thief in Peter Sellers’ famous Inspector Clouseau movies. They are said to have hundreds of members based across the globe, who are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to pull off a job. In 2007 they drove two speeding cars into a Dubai shopping centre and stole a staggering £8million worth of jewels in less than one minute. Many of the Pink Panthers are believed to originate from former Yugoslavia, but they have proved hugely difficult to track down because of their movements across dozens of countries and several continents. Among their formidable ranks are meticulous heist planners and experienced organised-crime lords, as well as jewellery experts and specialist salesman who deal in black market valuables. Police believe the close connection to the prestigious festival may help the Panthers push up the price of yesterday’s loot. More than 90 individuals with links to the Pink Panthers were arrested by Interpol member states in 2011, but hundreds more are still believed to be at large. And, despite members being jailed in connection with the robberies, many millions of pounds worth of jewels stolen in previous raids have never been recovered.
500 working for Serb gems gang
Notorious: Interpol page on the Pink Panthers gang
Interpol
The Pink Panthers are one of the most notorious criminal gangs in the world and have masterminded robberies from Monaco to Dubai. They have up to 500 members, mostly based in Serbia, and are thought to be led by Dragan Mikic. He has been on the run since 2005 when he broke out of jail in a hail of machine gun fire. Interpol has a website page about the gang. In 2008 the Pink Panthers carried out their biggest-ever heist stealing £55million of jewellery from a Paris store. And only on Tuesday a member of the gang escaped from a Swiss prison and is on the run.
There can be no innocent explanation for why a London man was captured on CCTV in Cambridge with the conspirators behind a £15 million raid on the Fitzwilliam Museum, a jury was told. Thomas Kiely, 21, is on trial at Cambridge Crown Court accused of being involved in the successful plot to steal Chinese artefacts, including Ming dynasty jade, from the Cambridge University museum on April 13 last year. Three men, including Kiely’s brother, admitted their part in the raid last year, while 15-year-old Marvin Simos pleaded guilty to burglary. Charles Myatt, prosecuting, said the defendant was seen on CCTV with those men near the museum on a reconnaissance mission the day before the raid. Mr Myatt said: “It’s the Crown’s case that there can be no innocent explanation for his presence on that day. “The people he is with are clearly taking great pains in planning a sophisticated burglary. They are far away from home and going back and forth into the museum.” He added: “Why bring Thomas Kiely along if he has got nothing to do with it? The only reasonable explanation of him being there is because he was playing his part.” Mr Myatt added it could not be a coincidence that the van used in the burglary was stolen “just literally around the corner” from where Kiely lived in Giraud Street, Tower Hamlets, on April 7, minutes before “relevant mobile phone traffic” between a phone he used and conspirators. He added the words “Ming”, “Cambridge and “fizzywilliam” had been typed into an iPad Kiely had in his possession. None of the items, which are valued at between £5-15 million, have been recovered and they may well be in the hands of “unscrupulous” private collectors in China, the court heard. In a statement made to police, which was read to the court, Kiely said he had family in the Cambridge area. He denies conspiracy to commit burglary. The trial continues.
Fitzwilliam Museum burglary accused 'spoke to plotters'
A man accused of conspiring to commit the £15m Fitzwilliam Museum raid was in phone contact hundreds of times with one of the plotters around the time of the crime. A phone used by Thomas Kiely was in contact with a mobile attributed to his brother, Patrick, 385 times between March 26 and April 18, Cambridge Crown Court heard yesterday. The court heard that the mobile used by, but not belonging to, Thomas Kiely was also in contact with a phone attributed to Fitzwilliam conspirator Robert Smith on more than 35 occasions between March 16 and the day after the April 13 raid. Smith, Patrick Kiely and Steven Coughlan were each sentenced to six years in prison in September after admitting conspiracy to burgle. Marvin Simos had admitted burglary and was sentenced to a four-month detention and training order. Chinese artefacts valued at between £5m and £15m were taken in the raid. Charles Myatt, prosecuting, yesterday showed the jury CCTV of Kiely walking past The Fitzwilliam on April 12 while his brother, Coughlan and Smith were inside. Kiely was also captured on CCTV with Smith in Lensfield Road that afternoon. Mr Myatt said: “There is no evidence or CCTV footage showing Thomas Kiely at any stage anywhere other than on public streets.” He told the jury on Monday the Crown’s case was that there can be no innocent explanation for Kiely’s presence. The court heard the van used in the raid had been stolen on April 7 from the outside a Londis store close to Kiely’s home in Giraud Street, Tower Hamlets. Kiely had said in a statement prepared for a police interview that he had been at home on April 13 and this could be checked using CCTV. The court heard the footage in question was only kept for 28 days and had been deleted. Kiely denies conspiracy to commit burglary. The trial continues.
£15m Fitzwilliam Museum heist was "out of my league"
A convicted thief has denied playing any part in the £15 million Fitzwilliam Museum heist, telling a jury it was “out of my league”. Giving evidence at his trial, Thomas Kiely, a traveller who lives in London, said he merely tagged along for the ride because he was bored when his brother Patrick and two other conspirators decided to go on a reconnaissance mission to Cambridge the day before the raid on April 13 last year. The 21-year-old admitted he was an “opportunistic thief”, whose previous convictions include burglary and aggravated vehicle taking, but added he was a “dumb blond” and thought the Cambridge University museum was a castle when he walked past it to find a McDonald’s. He said he knew nothing of the plot and added: “It’s a bit out of my league, you can tell by my previous convictions.” The prosecution says Kiely stole a van for the raid as it sat yards away from the home he shared with his girlfriend Grace in Giraud Street, Tower Hamlets, on April 7. Kiely told the court it would be “a bit silly” to rob a van outside his local shop which he visits every morning. The father-of-one said his brother only told him he would be meeting someone in Cambridge and asked no further questions because it was not his business. Charles Myatt, cross-examining at Cambridge Crown Court, told Kiely: “You became involved when you stole that caddy van from just around the corner from where Grace lived. You knew why they wanted the van because it would be used in the burglary the following week.” He added Kiely was in Cambridge to help with the “final stages of planning”, an accusation Kiely denied. His brother Patrick Kiely, Steven Coughlan, both of Tower Hamlets, and Robert Smith, of Swanley, Kent, were jailed for six years each for their role in the burglary, while Marvin Simos, who was 15 at the time of the burglary, was given a four-month detention and training order. None of the items, which detectives believe were stolen to order, have been recovered. The most popular theory is they are back in China in the hands of private collectors. Kiely denies conspiracy to commit burglary. The trial continues.
Art Hostage Comments: Memo to Helena Kiely Don't listen to those who may try to entrap you, sweet talk you, or offer false promises of rewards, better conditions in jail for the boys etc. Contact Art Hostage for details on how to negotiate a way through this minefield of double dealing, duplicitous false offers, that are Chinese whispers about Chinese Jade.
Forget the Bulgarian Traveller connection as this will lead to arrests like with the fake Stradivarius violin undercover sting operation when old Hristo Varbanov was set up. Also the German clue is a dead end.
Anyone attempting to offer information that leads to the recovery of these Chinese Jade artworks will come under scrutiny, 24/7 surveillance, and ultimately arrest. There is no reward on offer just a bogus offer of a "Substantial reward", meaning a token gesture, a few hundred pounds, maybe a couple of thousand pounds, if the person stepping forward sets up, goes along with a sting operation to entrap and expose themselves to a violent blow-back from those who will end up arrested. The only thing that awaits anyone who tries to offer information is, arrest, criminal charges, conviction and jail time. Therefore the only conclusion is to contact Art Hostage for the only legal, legitimate pathway forward.
Ashmolean Cezanne/Oudry White Duck Upon another note, the Cezanne stolen from the Ashmolean Museum on New Years Eve 2000 (above) is in play again, as well as the Oudry White Duck taken from Houghton Hall in 1992,(below) and again, as soon as either painting see's the light of day, Police will swoop and arrests made, no reward will be paid, you have been warned.
Second jewel theft strikes Cannes film festival
The necklace, modelled here, had been under tight security
A necklace reportedly worth 1.9m euros (£1.6m) has been stolen during the Cannes film festival, in the second such theft to hit this year's event.
The expensive piece by Swiss jeweller De Grisogono vanished after a celebrity party at a five-star hotel in the resort town of Cap d'Antibes. The theft occurred despite "large security measures", including 80 security guards, the jeweller said. Last week, thieves ripped a safe with jewels from the wall of a hotel room. The latest robbery happened after an exclusive gala held at the exclusive Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Tuesday night. The high-profile event celebrated De Grisogono's 20th anniversary, and was attended by international movie stars like Sharon Stone and Ornella Muti. The jeweller house regularly loans its jewels to celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Cameron Diaz. "It is actually the first time it has happened in our 20-year history," the company said in a statement. It added that the theft occurred "despite the large security measures set in place: over 80 security guards plus police". Last Friday, thieves stole jewels by Swiss jewellers Chopard from the Novotel hotel. The precious goods were worth more than 770,000 euros. Chopard is an official sponsor of the festival and also makes its top award, the Palme d'Or. But the trophy was not among the stolen items. At least two apartments rented by film executives have also been burgled during the festival, according to the AFP news agency.
Fitzwilliam Chinese art theft: Man found not guilty
A man charged in connection with the theft of Chinese art worth millions of pounds from a museum has been cleared.
Thomas Kiely, 21, of Giraud Street in Tower Hamlets, London, was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary by a jury at Cambridge Crown Court. The 18 artworks were stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge last April and have still not been traced. Four men were sentenced over the burglary in September. Mr Kiely was acquitted of the charge on Friday. Police have since renewed their appeal for information regarding the whereabouts of the missing items - mainly jade artefacts from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Det Insp Becky Tipping, of Cambridgeshire Police, said: "Sadly the items, which are of huge cultural significance, have still not been traced but we still have a team of detectives working to trace [them]. "The museum would dearly love to secure the return of these artefacts and there is a reward on offer to anyone who has information which leads to their recovery."
Fresh appeal for priceless Cambridge museum objects
Detectives have launched a fresh appeal for information in a bid to recover priceless Chinese artefacts stolen from a Cambridge museum. Eighteen Chinese artefacts Ming and Qing dynasties were taken by a gang of burglars from the Fitzwilliam Museum on April 13, last year. Three people have each been jailed for six years for their roles in the burglary, a teenage boy was also locked up after admitting burglary. A substantial reward has been issued by the loss adjusters, for information which leads to the recovery of the stolen property. Detective Inspector Becky Tipping said: “Sadly the items, which are of huge cultural significance, have still not been traced but we still have a team of detectives working to trace those items and would urge anyone with information to call police. “The museum would dearly love to secure the return of these artefacts and there is a reward on offer to anyone who has information which leads to their recovery.” The loss adjusters have issued a “substantial” reward for information which leads to the recovery of the stolen property.
Art Hostage Comments:
Anyone attempting to offer information that leads to the recovery of these Chinese Jade artworks will come under scrutiny, 24/7 surveillance, and ultimately arrest. There is no reward on offer just a bogus offer of a "Substantial reward", meaning a token gesture, a few hundred pounds, maybe a couple of thousand pounds, if the person stepping forward sets up, goes along with a sting operation to entrap and expose themselves to a violent blow-back from those who will end up arrested. The only thing that awaits anyone who tries to offer information is, arrest, criminal charges, conviction and jail time. Therefore the only conclusion is to contact Art Hostage for the only legal, legitimate pathway forward.
Stolen artworks from Picasso, Money and Matisse may now just be ashes
INVESTIGATORS are analysing ashes found in the house of a suspect charged for the Dutch museum heist amid fears the seven artworks have been burnt.
"Tests are underway, they will take some time," Gabriela Neagu, a spokeswoman for the Romanian prosecutor's office, told AFP. "The ash tests are a stage in the ongoing probe, investigators have to take every hypothesis into account", she added. Investigators fear that the suspects may have set fire to their haul after realising that they could not sell the paintings, which included works by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet and Henri Matisse. The ashes were taken from the house of Olga Dogaru, mother of one of the suspects and herself charged with "complicity to theft." Her son's lawyer, Doina Lupu, said the tests "were inconclusive" so far. Ms Dogaru was arrested in March after her house in eastern Romania was thoroughly searched. An empty suitcase which had presumably served to store the stolen paintings was unearthed during the operation. Seven Romanians, including Ms Dogaru, have been charged in connection with the theft of the paintings from Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum on October 16. Experts have estimated their value at more than 100 million euros ($133 million). The heist gripped the Netherlands and the art world as police struggled to solve the crime, despite putting 25 officers on the case. The works stolen include Picasso's Tete d'Arlequin, Monet's Waterloo Bridge and Lucian Freud's Woman with Eyes Closed.
An empty space left by a painting from French artist Henri Matisse that was stolen at the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam.
Art Hostage Comments:
I hope those who took the supposed moral high ground and demanded no reward offer, no fee offer for the recovery of these stolen artworks are happy with themselves upon hearing this news.
Thieves have stolen art for thousands of years and will continue to do so and the best form of defense is security that means the possibility of theft is diminished.
By being rigid in not allowing any fees or rewards to be paid provokes this kind of action.
Looks like the insurance company has taken a hit to the tune of tens of millions and the public are denied the chance to admire these artworks, not to forget the Triton Foundation losing some of its most coveted artworks.
The fee charged by The Art Loss Register looks very cheap now in light of this news, so getting Chris Marinello on board from the start could, should and would have prevented this. By being so cheap, so mean-spirited and tight fisted, the net result could prove to be the loss of these iconic artworks forever !!
Still, perhaps a few outcomes of this kind will provoke the insurance industry to call for ever increased security and perhaps the loosening of monies being paid for the recovery of stolen art? - Sadly, the message this sends is
"When in doubt about realizing on stolen art..... destroy"
Gang in court over £5m antique thefts from North Yorkshire stately homes
A GANG has admitted conspiring to handle historically important antiques worth £5m which were stolen from country estates, including two in North Yorkshire. Carl Rutter 46, of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, who appeared in court today, was described by officers as a "significant conspirator", the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit said. He pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court to conspiring to handle the items and will be sentenced with two other men in about four weeks, the unit added.
The valuables, reported stolen from Newby Hall, near Ripon, Sion Hill, near Thirsk and Firle Place in Sussex, included a pair of Louis XVI vases valued at almost £1m and a Chippendale table worth around £500,000, according to officers. The internationally important twin-leaf Pembroke table was taken from Newby Hall in 2007. It was commissioned by estate owner Richard Compton's ancestor, William Weddell, in 1775. Darren Webster, 45, of Leeds, and Brian Eaton, 69, of Barnsley, appeared in court in August charged with the same offences as Rutter. Both pleaded guilty but have been awaiting sentence subject to the outcome of Rutter's case. A total of 14 items were recovered from Eaton and Webster's homes. All have now been returned to the estates.
A Crime Unit spokesman said: "Rutter had overall possession of a number of the stolen antiques which had been stored on his behalf with a view to being sold later. "Both Eaton and Webster also had possession of a large number of the antiques, some stored at Eaton's home address. "Webster was described by officers as the lead conspirator while Eaton was responsible for introducing prospective buyers of the antiques to Webster and Rutter. "The valuables, known to be of significant and cultural historic value and worth a total of £5m, were recovered by officers from the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit on September 22, 2011. "It marked the culmination of a year-long investigation." Detective Superintendent Steve Waite, head of regional intelligence, said: "We were immensely pleased and proud back in September 2011 to have recovered these high value antiques which were described as true pieces of British heritage. "Today's plea brings this absolutely fantastic case one step closer to its conclusion. It's a great result for both the officers involved and the stately homes that were affected by these thefts."
Backstory:
National Trust member jailed after stealing £1.2million of antiques from stately homes
Lack of sophistication: Stately home burglar Graham Harkin used the pseudonym Graham Parkin
Grey-haired and bespectacled, he didn’t exactly stand out in the groups taking guided tours of various stately homes. But there was one thing that set National Trust member Geoffrey Harkin apart from his fellow sightseers examining the treasures on show. The 58-year-old grandfather would later return to the grand properties – and burgle them. In total, he stole antiques worth more than £1.2million from mansions across the country. The items have never been recovered. His targets included Firle Place near Lewes, East Sussex, where he stole nationally important Sevres porcelain worth more than £1million in a burglary that was to feature on Crimewatch. A pair of identical vases made in 1763 and a Hollandaise Nouveau vase were among the pieces taken in July 2009. At Longnor Hall in Shropshire he stole antiques worth more than £27,000. And he took a £200,000 clock by Thomas Tompion – who lived from 1639 to 1713 and is regarded as the father of English clockmaking – from Levens Hall, near Kendal in Cumbria.
It was the clock that was to be his undoing. Using a false name, he later told the owners he would give it to them in return for an advertised £20,000 reward, and £5,000 for himself, as long as they did not tell the police.
Sting: Mr Harkin was caught with a 300-year-old Thomas Tompion clock, above, worth £200,000 and stolen from Levens Hall, near Kendal, Cumbria, above
But when he arrived at Birch Services on the M62 near Manchester for the handover, he found that the owners had tipped off the police. Officers found the clock in the boot of his BMW, along with his phone, which when examined was used to place him at the locations of the other burglaries when they were committed. He also had on him his National Trust membership card – ‘an essential bit of kit for a country house burglar’, Tim Evans, prosecuting, told Carlisle Crown Court yesterday.
Gone: One of two identical porcelain vases taken in the £1 million burglary on the home of Lord Gage
The burglar, full name Graham Geoffrey Harkin, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was jailed for nine years. After his arrest for the clock burglary, police scoured CCTV from the other stately homes and found footage of Harkin on guided tours of each of them in the weeks before the thefts. Mr Evans told the court: ‘Mr Harkin is a professional country house burglar. There is nothing at all charming or entertaining about these crimes. They are not like the books featuring Raffles [the gentleman thief in the stories by E W Hornung]. ‘These were precious, irreplaceable antiques. It represents the looting of the history and heritage of this country for profit. ‘There is no indication of the whereabouts of any of these items. It remains a mystery.’ Judge Peter Hughes, QC, gave Harkin concurrent sentences of nine years for the Firle Place burglary, seven years for the Longnor Hall burglary and five years for handling the Tompion clock. The court was told he had 18 previous convictions, mainly for theft and dishonesty. His associate Gary Swindell, 58, was jailed for three years after the jury found him guilty of handling stolen goods. Swindell, from Bradford, sold 11 items Harkin stole from Longnor Hall in Shropshire, worth £7,700, at a car boot sale in York. Judge Hughes told Harkin: ‘That superb collection of porcelain has been lost. Over £1million worth that had been passed down through generations is unaccounted for and is unlikely to ever be put back together again.
Target: Harkin received a nine year sentence for the thefts from Firie Place in East Sussex in 2009
‘One of the finest bracket clocks in the country made by Thomas Tompion was recovered only because you tried to claim a reward on it.’ Lord Henry Gage, whose father Viscount Gage, 75, owns Firle Place, said: ‘We thought it was like Fort Knox, but the burglar knew what he was doing. The collection we thought was completely safe has been impaired. The items were of national importance.’
Burglar Graham Harkin has appeal turned down
Harkin would visit country houses looking for high value items
A burglar who targeted country houses in Cumbria, Sussex and Shropshire has had an appeal against his sentence turned down.
Graham Harkin was jailed for nine years in March 2011 after admitting the theft of antiques worth more than £1.2m. The 59-year-old from West Yorkshire was caught when he tried to claim a reward for a stolen clock. Mr Justice Parker told London's Criminal Appeal Court the sentence was "not manifestly excessive". The court was told Harkin, from Chestnut Walk in Wakefield, had pleaded guilty to two burglaries and one count of handling stolen goods. The National Trust member had taken a nationally important collection of porcelain from Firle Place in East Sussex which has never been recovered. He also stole porcelain valued at £27,000 from Longnor Hall near Shrewsbury in Shropshire. He was arrested after meeting undercover police officers at services on the M62 near Rochdale in Greater Manchester to claim a £20,000 reward for a Thomas Tompion clock valued at £200,000 which had been stolen from Levens Hall near Kendal in Cumbria. Dismissing the appeal, Judge Parker said Harker had deliberately targeted high value items. "He did guided tours first, posing as an ordinary visitor. These items were cherished not just by their owners, but by members of the public. "He could have given police information that would have led to the recovery of the stolen items, but he chose not to do so. He was playing for high stakes and he lost," he said.
Court hears Levens Hall clock theft man made £600,000 from targeting historic houses
http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/9932548.Court_hears_Levens_Hall_clock_theft_man_made___600_000_from_targeting_historic_houses/ A CAREER criminal involved in the theft of a nationally important antique clock from Levens Hall made £600,000 by targeting that and some of England’s other most historic houses, a court has heard. Graham Geoffrey Harkin, 59, joined a tour of the stately home so he could decide which items should be stolen. A few days later, on September 19, 2009, accomplices broke into the house and stole several antique pieces, including a 300-year-old clock, made by Thomas Tompion. Harkin might have got away with it, Carlisle Crown Court heard, if he had not contacted Levens owner Hal Bagot, saying he could recover the clock for a £25,000 reward.
As a result police set up a ‘sting’ in which Harkin was arrested. And then they discovered he had been responsible for burglaries and thefts in other parts of the country too. Last year Harkin was jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to burgling two historic houses — Longner Hall in Shropshire, and Firle Place, a country estate in Sussex, from which he took porcelain worth about £1 million — and handling the clock stolen from Levens Hall. Two other charges — burgling a National Trust property in Cornwall and stealing a £50,000 sundial from Dalemain House, near Penrith — were left lying on the court file and were not proceeded with.
Harkin. of Chestnut Walk, Wakefield, Yorkshire, was back at Carlisle Crown Court on Friday for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act. He admitted making £600,000 from his crimes but the judge accepted that he could be made to pay back only £10,000 of his profits, since his only realisable asset is a £10,000 share of the house he co-owns with his wife. Nearly £6,000 of that will have to go to paying off another Proceeds of Crime order made after a series of similar crimes in West Yorkshire. If he fails to pay within six months he will go to prison for an extra four months.
Art Hostage Comments:
News from sources on both sides of the divide, Law Enforcement and the Art Crime Underworld, come revelations that Graham Harkin, the prolific burglar serving nine years in jail these high value country house thefts, mentioned above, was threatened with an extra Ten years in jail and a benefit figure of £5 million attached in a confiscation hearing under the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act P.O.C.A.
With a metaphorical gun to his head Graham Harkin gave up Rutter, Webster and Eaton to save himself and now serves the rest of the four and a half years in jail, of his nine year jail sentence from the comfort of a D-Category Open Jail.
However, Police and prosecutors reneged on the deal agreed and Graham Harking lost his appeal against sentence a month after the art and antiques were recovered and the arrests made.
Mind you, Prosecutors did go easy on Graham Harkin at the Proceeds of Crime Act hearing and he was ordered to only pay back £10,000 or face four months more jail-time, as a result of his giving up the so-called Mr Big's and the recovery of the stolen art and antiques.
Mandela painting stolen from SA-born artist in New York
The theft of a painting of Nelson Mandela by South Africa-born artist Conor Mccreedy remains a mystery after it was stolen from a New York gallery.
The Johannesburg-born Mccreedy told the Mail & Guardian that 31 pieces of his artwork worth more than R2-million were also stolen, calling it "a bizarre" incident. "It makes me very unsettled that this piece would go missing at this time, it's completely bizarre," he said referring to the fact that former president Nelson Mandela is fighting for his life in hospital. "It is sad that I can never re-paint an original." Mccreedy, an artist and entrepreneur, arrived in New York last month to take part in Frieze Art Week, a large contemporary art fair. Thieves broke into a private storage at the gallery and stole pieces that include Mccreedy's Mandela portrait worth R100 000, which he had already sold to a collector. The collector's insurance had the painting insured only if it was stolen in South Africa and not in transit. Mccreedy has since refunded the buyer. Interpol has declared the Mandela artwork "priceless" until returned to the owner. It took him four years to complete the painting. The perpetrators left in their place a number of personal archives which included original photographs of famous musicians, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Mick Jagger. There are also images of the famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. The New York Police Department is working with Interpol to trace the artwork. "I have also hired a private investigator to speed up the process," said Mccreedy from New York. Mccreedy is the youngest artist to have held a solo exhibition at the National Arts Club in New York City. A chance meeting with comedian Chris Rock's uncle got him an introduction to the president of the National Arts Club, where he later held a solo exhibition. Mccreedy recently stirred up controversy with his "African Shack" Installation. Named the Mccreedy Mandela Shack, it uses the original fencing from Robben Island Prison, where Nelson Mandela remained for18 of his 27 years in prison. The controversial shack is on display this summer in Southampton, New York. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, art and cultural property crime is a booming criminal enterprise with estimated losses of the billions of dollars annually in the United States. Mccreedy was last year rumoured to be dating American socialite and actress Paris Hilton. The two have been seen together in New York. He declined, however, to comment on this.
Church's stolen Stations of the Cross paintings are part of €500,000 set
Fr Martin McNamara with two of the remaining eight paintings at St Peter and St Paul Church in Kiltullagh, Co Galway, after a gang stole six others
SIX pieces of artwork stolen from a church were part of a set worth half a million euro.
Gardai are seeking a gang who stole six of the 14 Stations of the Cross at Kiltullagh parish in Co Galway. The works, by famous Irish artist Evie Hone, were taken on Saturday night. A garda forensics team carried out an examination of the scene yesterday but it is understood the thieves left few traces. Parish priest Fr Martin McNamara discovered the break-in at 9.15pm on Saturday. He told the Irish Independent that he had feared the church was being targeted after a key was stolen from the back door a week before. Fr McNamara secured the door and used a dummy key in the lock to ensure thieves could not gain entry from outside. "They obviously sussed that out, because they waited until they could get in the front door – but used the stolen key to go out the back door, " he said. Fr McNamara described the paintings as "priceless". "We would be talking about half a million euro for the set, maybe more," he said. Evie Hone was a Dublin-born painter and stained-glass artist. Her most important works are the East Window for the Chapel at Eton College in Windsor and 'My Four Green Fields', which is now at Government Buildings. She painted the 14 Stations of the Cross for Kiltullagh church in 1945 after being commissioned by a local benefactor. Meanwhile, religious art dealer Stephen Bird Flanagan said he believed the theft was "opportunistic. A set of stations is of no use without the entire set. It would seem that they didn't know what they were doing." Mr Flanagan, who runs the Crypt religious items store in Dublin, said that while some collectors may be interested in the pieces, they would never consider buying just six stations as they were only valuable as a complete set.
Thieves in North Yorkshire steal £25,000 bronze statue
Police in North Yorkshire are hunting thieves who stole a £25,000 statue from the garden of a house in North Yorkshire.
The bronze sculpture is of two dancing hares and is one of a limited edition of 13. Police said it was stolen near Harrogate last week. PC Charlie Ferguson said appealed for art or scrap metal dealers who may have been offered the item to contact the North Yorkshire Police.
GENEVA — When squads of fake police officers arrived in a whirl of blue lights, they struck with clockwork precision, plundering closely guarded packets of diamonds from the cargo hold of a parked plane and fleeing without troubling the passengers. Since the theft on the windblown tarmac of the Brussels airport in February, though, the episode has veered from thriller to comedy, featuring a roundup of unusual suspects who, naturally, came together in Casablanca, Morocco. The robbery was marked by meticulous planning, inside information and swift execution — eight armed men in 11 minutes — that left investigators marveling. As the investigation has deepened in Morocco, Belgian officials conceded last week that the value of the cargo stolen might be far higher than the $50 million first estimated. But the frantic effort to sell the diamonds afterward was so ham-handed that some who watch the industry have begun to doubt that the robbers were after diamonds at all, but were instead seeking hard cash. Since they were arrested after trying to sell the diamonds, most suspects have denied involvement, while others offered a defense rarely employed by the suave celluloid jewel thieves or their conspirators: stupidity. The flawed second stage of the robbery is emerging in various legal proceedings since more than 30 people were detained in dawn raids last month by investigators in Belgium, France and Switzerland. The suspects include a French former convict with a restaurant in Casablanca called Key West and a wealthy Geneva real estate investor who insists that he was conned into hiding a paper sack of gems. “Today he can’t understand himself why he was so stupid," said Shahram Dini, the lawyer for Pascal Pont, 56, the real estate investor, who has been released from prison but remains under investigation on suspicion of receiving stolen property. “He was naïve. He is someone who has a thriving real estate business, doesn’t need more money and has a family and children. It wasn’t for himself. It was a favor for someone who charmed him and also scared him." The key relationship, which helped crack the case, is the tie between Pont and Marc Bertoldi, 43, the Casablanca restaurateur, with a sideline exporting luxury cars and a prior conviction in France for trafficking in stolen cars. Bertoldi’s name first surfaced in an unrelated Swiss inquiry, prompting a wiretap that connected him to the robbery in Belgium, according to the Swiss prosecutor, Marc Rossier. Last month, a grim Bertoldi was rushed into a courtroom in Metz, France, for an extradition hearing. Wearing jeans and a pink Ralph Lauren sweater, with his cuffed hands covered by a yellow blanket, he denied involvement in the robbery. The judges nonetheless agreed to send him to Belgium, based on information from wiretaps and GPS tracking that placed his car near the robbery. Prosecutors said that Bertoldi also warned a friend that he would be unreachable on the day of the theft. Two days later, according to the Belgian authorities, he was overheard boasting about his part in the robbery and urging his friend to “watch television." His lawyers appealed the ruling, arguing that Pont had falsely implicated Bertoldi in exchange for his release. Dini said that Pont was aware of his friend’s checkered past, but that Bertoldi was so droll that Pont came to admire and fear him. Handed bags of diamonds, Pont just took them. “In my line of work," Dini said, “there are people who do things that are really stupid, because they don’t have the force of character to say no."
METZ, France — The French owner of a luxury car business — accused of masterminding a $50 million million diamond theft at Brussels Airport — temporarily fended off extradition to Belgium on Thursday, arguing that the authorities there had not spelled out his precise role.
In an hourlong court hearing in the north of France, a panel of three judges delayed a decision on Belgium’s extradition demand for Marc Bertoldi, 43, until May 30. He was arrested in the region on May 7 after he left his mother’s house and headed for a train station in a Porsche, which was confiscated by the police along with €60,000, or $77,000, in cash.
His arrest set off a series of police raids the following day in Belgium and Switzerland. More than 30 people were arrested in Geneva and Brussels for their suspected roles, from fencing stolen diamonds to taking part in the armed robbery in February of an evening passenger flight bound for Geneva with a cargo of 120 packets of rough and polished stones from Antwerp, an international hub for the diamond industry.
On Thursday, Mr. Bertoldi, was rushed into the courtroom in blue jeans and handcuffs, towering over his five prison guards. During his appearance, he complained about the “enormous” glare of publicity surrounding his case.
“I’m considered almost guilty although I have denied all involvement in this affair,” he said. “I want to present myself to Belgian authorities as I have said at the beginning. But I don’t want to do it under this media pressure.”
Mr. Bertoldi’s lawyers, the father-and-son team of Dominique and Olivier Rondu, took a tactical approach in his defense. They criticized the Belgian authorities on procedural grounds, such as failing to identify Mr. Bertoldi’s French nationality in the extradition demand and crediting him with roles as a robber and a fence without fully explaining why.
“We have won a demi-victory today,” said Dominque Rondu, after the hearing, noting that the judicial panel demanded more information to justify Belgian claims against his client, who remains imprisoned until the next hearing. “Is Mr. Bertoldi accused of being present on the tarmac on the day of the robbery? Is he accused of being the brain of the operation? Is it just fencing? Till this day we have nothing on the subject from Belgian authorities.”
The defense approach marked a change in tactics because Olivier Rondu had previously said that his client was willing to go to Belgium to offer his defense. On Friday, eight people accused of robbery in the theft will face a procedural court hearing on the charges in Belgium. Most of them are of Moroccan origin, according to investigators.
Inside the Minds Of The Mysterious Pink Panther Diamond Thieves
A panther's best friend? - (Swamibu) By Till Krause VIENNA - It's 11:45 a.m. on March 5, 2004 when two men enter the Maki diamond and jewelry store in Tokyo, set to commit the biggest theft in Japanese history. One of the men has brown leather gloves and a bag with the Cartier logo, the other is in all dark clothes. They are shown the Comtesse de Vendome necklace, a jewelry masterpiece adorned with 116 diamonds and worth 24 million euros. At 11:46 a.m. the surveillance cameras show the following scene: One of the men gets a piece of paper out of his bag, as if he wants to write something down for the salesperson. As the employee bends over, the man sprays him in the face with pepper spray. His accomplice breaks the glass with a hammer, grabs the necklace and some other diamonds, and the two thieves run out of the store and flee on motorcycles. The whole thing lasts less than 40 seconds. The Comtesse de Vendome necklace has not been seen since. It was the most lucrative theft for a criminal gang so renowned that the police have given it a nickname: the Pink Panthers, named after the eponymous 1964 Blake Edwards comedy film about a famous jewel thief and the bumbling French police inspector on his trail. The thieves have obviously taken inspiration from the film: In a police raid in London, inspectors found a 600,000-euro diamond ring hidden in a lotion container, just like in the movie. Lately the gang, which according to Interpol has made off with more than 330 million euros worth of loot, has become a kind of myth: The most successful criminals in the world, who rob jewelry stores with a mixture of creativity and audacity and always seem to be a few minutes ahead of the police. Though Interpol continues to struggle with penetrating the network, the Pink Panthers don't have a perfect record of police evasion. Over the years, authorities have managed to arrest various members and runners that the gang recruited to do their dirty work. In fact, on June 18, one member was arrested in Charenton-le-Pont, just southeast of Paris, after being convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping in Germany, according to the Belgian news agency Belga.
The thefts
Most of the crimes follow a similar pattern: Well-dressed thieves enter a jewelry shop in groups of two to five, pretending to be clients. Often they have been scouting the shop for weeks to figure out where the most valuable piece of jewelry is kept. Then they strike. Two men threaten the employee; others grab as much jewelry out of the cases as they can hold. The getaway has been studied in advance, and they have also worked out the distance from the closest police station. They put briefcases in the door to prevent the doors from locking when the alarm goes off. They outwit the surveillance cameras with their attire: Wigs, sunglasses and make-up are as much their tools as the hammer they use to break the glass. There are other ways their tactics seem to be taken straight from a Hollywood script. In Rome, an attractive woman wooed the son of a jeweler in order to find out where the most expensive diamonds were located. After a theft, the Panthers often flee on foot, going the opposite direction of traffic on a one-way street, which makes pursuit difficult. In Dubai, they crashed a stolen Audi A8 into a jewelry store’s display window and cleaned the store out in less than two minutes; in Saint-Tropez they dressed as tourists and fled on a motorboat. The stolen goods are then often smuggled into other countries – hidden in a sandwich, for instance – given false certificates and, in many cases, circulated on the regular market. The investigators Somebody is making a fortune from these hold-ups. But who? According to Ewald Ebner, one of the head “Panther-hunters” at Interpol in Vienna, the risk and payoff don’t make sense. “Most of the criminals we catch are unemployed guys who rob stores for a little spending money,” he said. He proudly tells of successful arrests, even if they are only for the lowest-rung gang members. The jails are full of the so-called runners, who are given a couple hundred euros for breaking the glass and running away quickly. They are promised promotions in the gang’s hierarchy, but most end up in jail. There are more than 50 of them in jail in Germany and Austria, almost all of them from the former Yugoslavia. Hardly any of them talk, the loot has still not been found and there is no trace of the people behind the operation.
But the investigators can’t be accused of inaction. Some 100 investigators worked on the theft in Tokyo, and two years later, two Serbian men were in jail. Just like the others, they refused to give any clues about the loot’s location or the gang’s upper echelon. Joachim Kledtke, an organized crime expert in Dusseldorf, has interrogated a couple of Panthers. “They seem smart, often speak many languages and are somewhat shy.” The lawyer of one of the Panthers likes to tell the story of how some Panthers were fleeing a crime and knocked over an old lady: They excused themselves and helped her up. When the man behind the Dubai heist was finally arrested in France in 2008, he gave himself up with the words, “good work.” Interpol has a special working group dedicated to the Panthers, and they met recently to discuss new strategies in Vienna. Kledtke says that cracking the gang’s secrets will require close international cooperation. Many of the criminals that have been caught use fake or stolen passports. Another investigator who was present in Vienna admitted that even the investigators were a bit fascinated by the Panthers – especially over beers after the conference, investigators keep coming back to the Hollywood influence. He also named one place the investigators have to look at a little closer: Centinje in Montenegro. Many of the runners that have been caught, like the one recently arrested in Paris, hail from the town of less than 14,000 inhabitants near the Adriatic sea. It may very well be the Pink Panther’s den.
Why Montenegro?
The town of Cetinje, where the country's president lives, looks like an advertisement: Roads snake through green hills, the Adriatic Sea shimmers and yachts in the distance are anchored under palm trees. It’s a favorite vacation spot for the wealthy, but Montenegro, with an average income of less than 500 euros per month, is one of the poorest countries in Europe. There are empty houses and stray dogs. A big factory, that once employed 6,000 people, has been closed since the UN imposed economic sanctions against Montenegro in the 1990s because of fighting after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.
Duda Pajovic’s bar is near the empty factory. “No one has work here," he says. "Just look around." This is where the Panthers recruit. Pajovic says he has been approached, but he declined. The nearby supermarket is owned by a supposed former Panther, as is a nearby cafe. “At least they give people jobs,” says one of the customers. “I don’t care where the money comes from. The important thing is that it comes to us.”
Filip (not his real name) has arms like clubs, scars, a bald head and sunglasses. He suggested that we meet in a pizzeria, and only agreed to a meeting because our photographer knows someone from his hometown. Filip’s first thefts for the Panthers were years ago, but he still remembers perfectly: “In quickly, take everything, out quickly,” he explains. Much of what he told us was later confirmed by the police.
The group sold its loot to middlemen for about 25 percent of its market value. Filip's group took orders — the pieces were pre-sold, and the thefts were often arranged with the shop owners beforehand — resulting in insurance money for the shopkeepers and a black market flush with stolen goods. After the heists, the loot is often dropped in a trash can, and nearby the middleman is waiting, often dressed as a sanitation worker, to pick up the "garbage." To prevent anyone from seeing the hand-off, they often park a car nearby and set the alarm off just before the drop. If there is a bench near the drop point, they might use a “wet paint” sign.
Filip is a trained chef who couldn’t find work in his profession, but he refused to say how much he made from robbing jewelry stores. He did tell us one of his disguise techniques — he would wear a too-large stuffed suit to the robbery, which he would shed in the escape car. He would also shave in the backseat. “A fat guy with a beard gets in, a thin guy with no beard gets out,” he explained. Filip isn’t afraid of the police. “We’re ahead of them,” he says. Filip spoke to a journalist because he thinks a lot of nonsense is written about the Pink Panthers. The real Panthers, he says, have principles: No real weapons are used during the robberies, and no one says a word to police.
We tried to speak with a representative from Interpol, which has an office in Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital. We never got a response to our repeated requests. It seems to be easier to talk to criminals than to the police in this country that Foreign Affairs magazine characterizes as a “mafia state.” There’s a popular song that goes, “We don’t steal from Montenegro, we steal for Montenegro.”
Our meeting with Ivan (also not his real name) was up in the air until the last minute. He’s high in the group’s hierarchy, and doesn’t rob stores himself. Instead, he is concerned with selling the stolen goods. He is about 50, smells like aftershave and looks like he’s spent a lot of time in the sun. He lives in a rich European country and is in Montenegro for a family event. He sees himself as a businessman, and has three passports — two of which are fake.
“What do you want to know?” he asks.
“What happens to the loot?”
“There are very few customers who can afford the stolen stones," he says. "Maybe a dozen, most of them are in Belgium, Israel, the USA and Arab countries.” He mostly communicates with the clients through Skype, often using code words. For Arab countries, the code word is “blond women.”
He doesn’t know much about the guys who actually do the robbing. “It doesn’t interest me much. The most important thing is that they deliver.”
He is leaving Montenegro that same day, and nods goodbye. A couple seconds later, he disappears.
Pink Panther suspect arrested near Paris
A suspected member of the notorious Pink Panther gang of international jewel thieves has been arrested near Paris, according to police sources.
The Pink Panthers gained their nickname with a raid on a London branch of Graff Diamonds in 2003. A stolen diamond was found hidden in a pot of face cream, reminiscent of a scene from the 1975 film "The Return of the Pink PantherPhoto: PA
By AFP
5:42PM BST 19 Jun 2013
Nijan Drobnjak had been on the run after fleeing Germany, where he had been sentenced to a seven and a half year prison term for armed robbery and kidnapping.
He was captured by police on Tuesday and is expected to be extradited back to Germany, which has issued a European arrest warrant for him, police told the AFP news agency.
The Pink Panthers are a gang who emerged from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia to become the most successful jewel thieves in the world.
According to Interpol, they have, since 1999, snatched jewels with a value in excess of 330 million euros (£283 million) in heists which are often executed with breathtaking speed and precision and frequently finish with the thieves making a clean getaway.
They gained their nickname with a raid on a London branch of Graff Diamonds in 2003, in which two of them posed as wealthy would-be customers, persuading staff to open doors for them before helping themselves to diamonds worth millions of dollars.
Telling the story of a ring of Balkan jewel thieves dubbed ‘The Pink Panthers’ Havana Marking’s fascinating and innovative documentary Smash and Grab stylishly captures the slick, seductive world of real-life diamond heists. A story that sashays across Europe and beyond, from war-torn Yugoslavia to the sparkling jewellery shops of Geneva, Antwerp, Biarritz and Dubai, this factual gangster movie is a born crowd-pleaser and enjoys considerable support from sponsors and production companies all too aware of its appeal. The smooth efficiency of the Pink Panthers’ operations seems to have permeated through the film, from the slick story-telling to the seductive PR operation. Powered by amaretto, Smash and Grab is being taken around the world as they try and build up the film’s profile before it is aired on BBC Storyville in the Autumn. Their partnership with Disaronno seems a match made in heaven and one can only imagine the excitement in both parties’ press teams as they realised the marketing possibilities of a gangster documentary watched by an audience plied with amaretto sours. It seemed fitting to be drinking free cocktails before a film with serious crime credentials and the pre-premiere drinks was a very nice touch, maybe the free bottle of Disaronno on each seat was greasing the palm slightly but how else are you going to toast the Panthers successes with a triumphant ‘na zdrove’ during the film? The film itself was enticing, detailed and made an effort not to fall into the trap of cashing in on the gangster element too much. The Pink Panthers’ creation in war-torn, sanction-ridden Yugoslavia was explored at length and for me was the most interesting part of the story. The General Tito years were swiftly yet comprehensively explained with amazing archive footage found in a ‘rotting building in Belgrade’, as the director explained afterwards. The dissolution of Yugoslavia following Slobadan Milosevic’s appointment and the desperate Serbian cruelty in Bosnia and Croatia led to international sanctions and in turn led to an explosion in smuggling carried out by an unemployed generation deprived of normality, trying to escape the barbarity of the war. “This was the start of the Pink Panthers,” explains ‘Mike’ the male Panther interviewed in the film and who, along with the female interviewee ‘Lela’, gives the film its credibility. As the names, faces and voices had to be changed Mike is played by a Balkan musician living in London called Tomislav Benzon and for someone with no real acting experience he gives a very good performance as a loveable diamond thief. Jasmin Topalusic’s performance as ‘Lela’ isn’t as strong but the animation techniques used to present the two criminals hides this well. The innovative and extremely effective idea of animating the Panthers’ interviews succeeds in acknowledging that their identities have been hidden – normal footage of an actor talking could have caused confusion and affected credibility – but also allows the audience to use their imagination to build a picture of the real person, as well as creating a gorgeous stylised effect that is a pleasure to watch. The technique used is called rotoscoping, where every frame is traced over by hand, famously used in films such as A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life. These shimmering, colourful representations of ‘Mike’ and ‘Lela’ explain how they fell into a life of crime, through smuggling and glamorous boyfriends, and explain the methods they used to scope out potential targets and eventually smash their way into vaults where the loot lay hidden. They give detailed accounts of two heists, one in Spain and the other in Dubai, where impressive CCTV footage shows the smash and grab technique that gave the film its name, and unintentionally gave Audi a reputation for strong, reliable cars in the Emirate. Other voices in the film are not acted and include those that have made a living following the Panthers around Europe. Investigative journalist Milena Miletic was the key for access to the Panthers for Havana Marking and along with Swiss detective, Inspector Yan Glassey, they give candid accounts of their fascination and admiration of the gang’s operations, as well as stern-faced warnings of their inherently criminal nature.
The film has chosen to be sympathetic to the Panthers without a doubt, but I wonder how much of a choice the director had when even the police have a twinkle in their eye when they’re talking about the jewel thieves. The interview with Inspector Glassey takes place at his desk in front of a large cuddly Pink Panther that has been hung by a gibbet erected in his office, and despite explaining that they break the law and routinely carry guns he is jovial about their success, smiling happily throughout. ‘Lela’ is almost the most critical voice of them all and her story as an incredibly attractive woman that is used to scope out jewellery shops leads to alienation and depression as the forced ‘transformations’ and disguises makes her feel like ‘someone’s doll’. She eventually escaped back to her village and has found religion. More could have been done to interview jewellery shop owners and workers who have been caught up in a Panther raid. Some of the CCTV footage shows terrified cashiers cowering in fear as they are faced with masked gunmen and a robbery in Tokyo involved the use of tear-gas on shop workers which proves that the crimes are not completely victimless. The Panthers have recently recommenced their role as Robin Hood media darlings after being accused of stealing £656,000 worth of jewellery from a hotel in Cannes during the film festival this year; taking jewels about to be worn by Carey Mulligan and Cheryl Cole! However, it must be said this robbery is still under investigation. On a darker note, as the director explained afterwards, their policy of ‘no violence, only intimidation’ could have been broken as they may have killed a security guard since the film has been made. She is considering putting in a note explaining this recent activity in the end credits. All in all though Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers is a very well made, exciting and incredibly interesting documentary that, because of the shiny subject matter, will appeal to all. I’m sure it would be as enjoyable sober but amaretto sours are highly recommended as the perfect accompaniment.
A Haida carved mask worth thousands of dollars has been stolen in New Westminster and police are asking for the public’s help to locate the work of art.
METRO VANCOUVER - A Haida carved mask worth thousands of dollars has been stolen in New Westminster and police are asking for the public’s help to locate the work of art. New Westminster police spokeswoman Sgt. Diana McDaniel says a man left a bag containing the masks unattended for a few minutes at the New Westminster Quay on April 27. When he returned the bag was missing, along with an alder beaver transformation mask carved by the late Haida artist Wayne Young valued between $10,000 and $12,000. Also in the bag, McDaniel said was a baton made for the Commonwealth Games of Victoria and a print of Young’s art worth $1,600
Sword Stolen Decades Ago on Way Back to Brown U.
PROVIDENCE, R.I.— A Brown University spokesman says a Virginia antiques collector has turned over a Civil War-era sword that was stolen from the Ivy League school in the 1970s. Last week, a federal judge in Virginia ordered Williamsburg collector Donald Tharpe to surrender the Tiffany silver sword to Brown. Tharpe bought it for $35,000 in 1992 after it had passed among dealers for years. A Brown spokesman told The Providence Journal on Monday that Tharpe has given the sword to a Virginia attorney who represented the university, and it’s being shipped to Providence. Brown officials say the sword was stolen from the Annmary Brown Memorial at the school. The sword was given to her husband, Col. Rush Hawkins, in 1863 for his service to the Union during the Civil War.
Asian art stolen from specialist Scots dealer
THOUSANDS of pounds worth of Asian art have been stolen from a Scottish specialist dealer.
The carvings and sculptures, imported from Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, were taken after thieves forced their way into John Stewart's shop in Perth over the Bank holiday weekend. Also taken in the raid was cash from a charity box. Mr Stewart believes the items were stolen to order in a targeted raid as computers and a camera were left behind. Among the 16 artworks taken are a Khmer sandstone figure of a female goddess worth around £900 and a teak carving valued at £1500. Mr Stewart said: "These are not items you would find in a typical Asian art shop, so I think we were targeted. "The carvings would require very delicate handling. "We won't close because of this but I will have to replace the metal shutters and the shop is currently boarded up until that can be down." Police Scotland are investigating the theft.
Russia, Germany Fight Over Looted Art
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel openly asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to return to Germany the art the Red Army had stolen in 1945, it showed how bad the relations between the two leaders have become. Merkel and Putin had at first canceled the joint opening of a controversial exhibition of looted German art at a St. Petersburg museum. The Kremlin said there was not enough time for Merkel to give her remarks. The chancellor was prepared to stay away. Sensing this diplomatic faux pas, Putin changed his mind. The two leaders would be speaking after all. Ever since Putin became president again two years ago, Merkel has not shied away from criticizing his clampdown on nongovernmental organizations and his treatment of opposition movements.
Even more telling is the way in which her governing Christian Democratic Union party has adopted a much harsher tone toward the Kremlin. It is a signal, at least on the part of the Christian Democrats, that the German strategy of Ostpolitik based on quiet engagement with the Kremlin has run its course. This has immense implications for Europe’s strategy toward Russia. For decades, the EU’s approach was influenced by Berlin’s belief that tighter economic and political ties with Russia would increase the chances of modernizing Russia’s economy and political system. The Chancellery no longer subscribes to that belief—even if German industry doggedly tries to pursue that policy, regardless of Putin’s authoritarian style and his unwillingness to diversify the economy. Because of this shift by Merkel, she was prepared to speak out about wanting Russia to return the looted art. At the end of World War II, when Stalin’s Red Army entered Berlin, it raided the museums and galleries along the way. Over 2.5 million items were sent back to the Soviet Union. In a gesture of friendship with Communist East Germany, the Kremlin returned some of the stolen art to its Communist allies in 1958. The rest remained in storage. Now, for the first time since 1945, the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg has opened an exhibition of plundered artifacts. Called “Bronze Age: Europe Without Borders,” it has on show 600 items that were taken from Germany to Russia after 1945. Despite repeated attempts by Berlin to get the art back, Russia considers the items state property and not subject to international law. Besides, leading Russian museum directors believe the booty is legitimate compensation for Soviet works of art that had been looted or destroyed by the Nazis. “It is our opinion that these exhibition pieces should be returned to Germany,” Merkel said during the opening ceremony. Putin replied: “We probably should not start a discussion now because people will appear on the Russian side who would evaluate the damage done to our art during World War II.” Of course, Merkel was doing some electioneering as well. With less than three months to go before the next federal election, she has been much more critical of Putin. However, Merkel has yet to formulate what kind of long-term strategy Germany—and, by implication, the EU—needs toward Russia. Looted art is just one issue that dogs the relationship between Berlin and Moscow. It is a highly sensitive and political topic because it is one of the last chapters of World War II that is still open. When it is made a public issue, as in the spat between Merkel and Putin, it shows how this past haunts many countries across Europe. The cultural damage wrought by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945 was immense. Paintings, drawings, silver, books, and manuscripts were either stolen or destroyed. Under pressure, many Jewish families who were desperate to flee and needed the money to do so sold works well below their value. The Nazis, too, raided museums as the Wehrmacht invaded Poland and Czechoslovakia and other countries to the east. Some of these countries are still negotiating with German museums to return art plundered during World War II. And some of these countries have also stolen art once owned by Jews. To this day, the national museum in Budapest, for example, houses pictures that the Commission on Looted Art in Europe claims is not rightfully theirs. Very slowly, museums on both sides of the Atlantic that work closely with commission are examining their collections to establish if they were obtained in good faith. Many museum curators, who want to hold on to paintings and other works of art, continue to resist restituting them. This is not only about wanting to keep such fine works. It is about decency and honor. Dealing with restitution claims will be a long and difficult process. But it will finally close this ignominious chapter of World War II, something that Russia does not even consider needs addressing. And if Russia under Putin is not prepared to confront this part of its past, how far can Germany and Europe move forward with Moscow?
Art detective warns of missing checks that let stolen works go undiscovered
Case of 17th-century landscape highlights failure of European auction houses, dealers and collectors to carry out searches
Paul Mitchell with the recovered 17th-century painting by Jan van Goyen. Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the Observer
European auction houses, dealers and collectors are failing to make adequate checks to avoid handling stolen artworks, an art lawyer has warned after recovering from an Italian auction an old master painting taken from its British owner in a burglary more than 30 years ago. Christopher A Marinello, who specialises in recovering stolen art and resolving title disputes, said: "We do find a lot of stolen and looted artwork in civil law countries such as Italy, France and Germany. Consigners of tainted works of art often try to hide behind the good-faith purchase laws of these countries while performing little or no due diligence." He spoke to the Observer after negotiating the return from Italy of a landscape painting by Jan van Goyen, a 17th-century Dutch painter, which was stolen in 1979. Negotiations were particularly delicate because, under Italian law, if someone buys a stolen work in good faith the buyer is sometimes entitled to keep it. Marinello was able to prove to the Italian auctioneer that the painting was one of nine pictures stolen at night by criminals who broke into the home of Paul Mitchell, an antique picture frame specialist in London.
View of Lake Nemi by Joseph Wright of Derby, one of the paintings stolen from Paul Mitchell. The thieves forced open a window to enter his house. Mitchell assumed that the slight noise that he heard from downstairs was the family cat. "Police call these people 'creepers', night-time burglars who specialise in burgling people when they are in their house," Mitchell said. Describing waking to discover the theft, he added: "The anguish is a very long, deep-seated thing which never really goes away. Hardly a day goes by when I haven't thought about it." The loss of the pictures was also painful because of their sentimental value. They belonged to his father, but had become so valuable that Mitchell could not afford to insure them for their full worth. Back in 1979, the paintings were valued at £400,000. Today the amount is well into seven figures. After the theft, Mitchell tried in vain to track down the paintings, offering a £5,000 reward for their recovery, placing advertisements in international journals and approaching a specialist art detective. But the trail went cold. He was overwhelmed with emotion at being reunited with the Van Goyen, a beautiful beach scene painted in 1643 by a pioneer of naturalistic landscape painting. It surfaced by chance a few weeks ago after a Dutch dealer tried to buy it in Italy. Before paying for it, he decided to check the database of the Art Loss Register (ALR), which tracks down the world's stolen art from its headquarters in London.
Still Life by Pieter Claesz, another of the missing paintings. Marinello, the ALR's general counsel, who has recovered £200m worth of stolen and looted art in seven years, confirmed that it had been stolen: "The Italian auction house involved did not search the work with the ALR, but the dealer did. While losing out on a potential future sale, the [dealer] protected his reputation and saved himself significant sums in legal fees defending a case over title to the painting." Unless more dealers, collectors and auctioneers make such checks, he added, other stolen items will remain undetected. "It's the same concept as having a survey done prior to purchasing a home. Considering the values involved, why wouldn't you want to know if there were serious title issues before purchasing fine art?"
Pastoral landscape by George Smith of Chichester, which is still missing after 30 years. Asked why they had not made such checks, Marinello stopped short of suggesting that the buyers had not wanted to know about doubts over an artwork's legality: "Perhaps it's the excitement of getting a good deal." A reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of the other eight lost paintings, including Still Life with Oyster Shells (1646) by Pieter Claesz, and Lake of Nemi at Sunset (1780) by Joseph Wright of Derby. Mitchell said his experience of being reunited with the Van Goyen after more than three decades will give hope to other people who have suffered thefts of their family's treasured items.
Stolen Trailer Carting Antiques Found
The trailer contained as much as $50,000 worth of antiques
State police have found a 20-foot trailer holding thousands of dollars worth of antiques that was stolen in Tolland last week.
The Capitol Salvage trailer holding $30,000 to $50,000 worth of antiques was taken from Industrial Park West in Tolland around 10:15 a.m. on Friday, according to state police. State police said they received several tips and found it at an abandoned house in Plymouth.
The trailer owner said the person who stole it painted over the "Capitol Savage" sign.
The trailer contained an 1883 blue creamery cabinet, a wooden English clothing store mannequin, Grain painted Ohio factor counter (porcelain feet), 76 linear feet of 50-inch high pine paneling (wainscot), a set of four gothic porch piers, two highly decorated folk art carnival wheels. quarter sewn oak RR cabinet, 1940s industrial aviation machinist cabinet, 19th century 12-foot blue sled, two fancy Victorian fretwork gables, 10-foot long multi drawer apothecary, 9-foot-long custom mahogany counter, 14-foot-long zinc topped potting table with three heavy iron legs, more than Victorian corbels, white with finials, marble plant stand and 13-foot-long oak and chestnut bar/table top.
The items had been removed from the trailer, but police recovered them at a storage unit in Southington, according to police.
The owner of the trailer said he is concerned about the condition of the contents. Police are holding onto the items as evidence, he said, and he is concerned because he cannot deliver items customers have paid for.
Police said a red Ford extended cab style-pick-up with an 8-foot bed towed the trailer. It had a silver tool box and white lettering on the driver's side door that might say "BROX PROPERTY MANAGEMENT" with unknown Connecticut license plates.
A witness reported seeing the stolen trailer traveling west on Route 30 at 10:15 a.m. on Friday and take a left onto Route 31 and get onto Interstate 84 at Exit 67 in Vernon and headed West toward Hartford.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
Over 500 artworks stolen from Hungary apartment: police
More than 500 valuable paintings and works of art have been stolen from a Budapest apartment belonging to a deceased collector, Hungarian police said today, in series of robberies that apparently went undetected for years.
"The police has opened an investigation into a case of theft concerning works of art of exceptional value," a police statement read, adding that it was in the process of determining how much the missing items -- including an untitled sketch by Gustav Klimt -- were worth.
The paintings and artworks were removed from a flat belonging to Dezso Kovacs, a Hungarian art collector who died in 2002.
The robberies took place sometime between 2005 and 2013, the statement said, and have apparently only now come to light.
The valuables were being stored in the apartment while the collector's heirs worked out their share of the inheritance.
Among the stolen paintings were works by Italy's Tintoretto, France's Maurice Utrillo and by Hungarian artists including Laszlo Paal, Gyula Derkovits and Karoly Ferenczy, according to the statement.
World War I cannon stolen
For 60 years, Peter Williams woke up every morning and sat on his veranda to read his Bible, taking a familiar survey of his wide collection of antiques, including a cannon from World War I. Early Friday morning, as he was about to perform his ritual on the veranda of his home in Riverside Heights, Gordon Town, St Andrew, he realised something was wrong. The cannon was gone. A cast iron cannon that took four men to lift, valued at approximately $1.5 million, that had been part of his life since 1953, was gone. "I looked across and noticed my Spanish jar missing, and then I looked across and saw that the cannon was gone. And I said to myself, 'Well, that seemed to be the end of the world'," declared the 80-year-old retired Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) sergeant. reported theft He said after he overcame the shock, he made a report at the Gordon Town Police Station. Williams said he acquired the cannon from the Clan Carthy family after they were tearing down their old home to begin constructing the Clan Carthy School. "Shortly after I joined the army in 1952, I was stationed at Harman Barracks, known as Duppy Gate. I used to walk over to the house and sit and talk with the old couple. I saw the cannon and fell in love with it, and they said I could have it," recalled Williams. In 1978 when he bought the property in Riverside Heights, he constructed a special place for the historic cannon under a gazebo overlooking the river below, where it held pride of place in his scenic garden until it was stolen. Williams and his cannon has been featured a number of times, including in part of the JDF's Military Tattoo during Jamaica's 50th Independence celebrations last year. "I never dreamt that anyone would steal it. I thought they would admire it instead," he shared. "I have no idea who could steal it. Who would want to steal such a valuable piece of history?" Williams declared, "I have hopes to get back my cannon. But if I don't get it back, I'm going to put a big cross right there." The Gordon Town police are now investigating the theft.
Interpol targets Qaddafi family treasures
Art high on the list of items sought by new Libyan government
Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi showed off his his painting, The sun of the oasis at an exhibition in Moscow in 2010 Photo: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin
The UK government has confirmed that art is likely to be among the items seized as part of a drive to recover billions of dollars worth of assets siphoned off by the Qaddafi family during four decades in power. A number of initiatives have recently been launched aimed at recovering stolen assets and returning them to Libya. Following a meeting in March between the Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan and Ronald Noble, the secretary general of Interpol, a joint task force has been established to track down Muammar Qaddafi’s fortune, which “could include money, gold or art”, says a spokeswoman for Interpol.
The Stolen Asset Recovery (Star) initiative, which is jointly managed by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, also met with members of the Libyan government in March to assess how best to recover funds. Meanwhile, the British government formed the Arab Spring asset recovery task force in December. Its aim is to speed up the repatriation of Libyan assets, including works of art.
Qaddafi is thought to have deposited around $168bn in assets abroad—around $100m in the UK alone—which were frozen by the United Nations Security Council shortly after Qaddafi began a crackdown on anti-government protesters in February 2011. While openly held bank accounts and sovereign wealth funds are more easily located, large sums are also likely to have been hidden in secret accounts, deposit boxes and art collections. “Art was probably bought through other organisations not affiliated with the regime or through investment groups,” says Ghazi Gheblawi, a spokesman for the Libyan embassy in London. “It is something that should be investigated.”
Saif al-Islam, Qaddafi’s second son, who is in custody charged with crimes against humanity, was known to be a keen art collector and reportedly active on the Islamic art circuit. He was due to open a museum of Islamic art in Tripoli in September 2011, but its construction was halted by the uprising. Exhibits destined for the museum had already been bought from London auction houses. “A [criminal] case has been brought against Saif… but his financial dealings will also be scrutinised. Part of that might reveal if there’s an element of corruption that might tie him to his assets abroad,” Gheblawi says.
Last year, the Libyan state seized a London mansion worth more than £10m from Saadi Qaddafi, the third of the late dictator’s sons. It was the first case of a major asset owned by the Qaddafi family being transferred to Libyan ownership. Saadi had owned the north London property through Capitana Seas Ltd, a British Virgin Islands company, but ownership was not established until the British Treasury intervened. According to Mohamed Shaban, the lawyer hired by the Libyan Embassy to handle the case, no art was seized last year, but “any valuable works of art that can be linked to Libya will be pursued if I am made aware of their existence”.
"Celebrity jeweler" robbed of up to $500K, workers held hostage during Calif. heist, report says
(CBS) LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - Three men were reportedly on the loose after an armed robbery Monday morning at a jewelry store that caters to celebrities in the affluent Orange County community of Laguna Niguel, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Brian Hassine, the owner of Nuggets & Carats Fine Jewelry & Art, said a gunman, wearing no disguise, held him and his three employees hostage while two other men smashed his showcases. Police said the alleged thieves stole several hundred thousand dollars in jewelry, according to CBS Los Angeles. "All our rings and our watches are gone," said Hassine. Hassine, who said the gunman threatened to kill everyone, told the station he watched the heist unfold from his security cameras in the back room of the store. "I kept thinking he's going to have to kill us. We could identify this guy," said Hassine. Sheriff's deputies said the suspects fled in a white sports utility vehicle, reported stolen out of Lakewood, then abandoned it and escaped in another car. They reportedly left rings behind on the floor of the SUV. The suspects were described as black men in their early 20s. The gunman was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing more than 200 pounds, and had short hair. Store owner Hassine is known for designing the wedding ring of Tamra Barney, who stars on Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Orange County."
French Oriental Art Museum exhibition of ancient Chinese jade showcase high glass was smashed. (China Culture Daily July 4 at noon, in southwestern France in the French resort city of Biarritz Museum of Oriental Art was robbery with violence, more than 10 pieces worth more than 500,000 euros of Chinese ancient jade high snatched, famous Chinese artists, deputy curator of the museum Zhu heavens were wounded. Robbery occurred in the museum closed at noon break, the staff shift when that time, Zhu Xintian being behind the counter of the reception hall, the next night will be held a personal exhibition opening ceremony final preparations .12:05 do so, a Name armed robbers broke into the hall, at gunpoint Zhu heavens and another a museum female staff. See armed robbers, Zhu Xintian immediately rush out to stop them, and with the desperate struggle occurred while Zhu Xintian repeatedly shouting woman standing behind the counter staff quickly called(http://www.best-news.us/). Unfortunately, the new heavens and the robbers Zhu Wrestling ten minutes, the female staff did not take any action. Zhu Xintian repeatedly been about 1.8 meters tall robbers knocked to the ground, and even grabbed the hair on the steps from 4-storey fall ....(Favorites News http://www.best-news.us/).. fierce fighting lasted for about 15 minutes, however, outnumbered, the other two robbers took the opportunity to Just enter the exhibition was completed for the opening ceremony was held in the near future and the new museum opened to the public in China. robbers with an iron will China's two exhibition museum of ancient Chinese jade showcase high smashed (from the Louvre museum in Egypt There are hundreds of years old Showcase), of which more than a dozen pieces of stolen high value rare treasures, including jade Liangzhu culture period, worth more than 500,000 euros. Subsequently, the three criminals fleeing parked waiting outside the museum car fled. 14:00 the same day, the police rushed to the scene forensics, and extract the museum's surveillance video. Was robbed of heritage images have also been handed over to police professionals, and to notify the International Police Department, the French national television three sets, BFM television stations broadcast After being robbed of the museum and curator Baosi Dai-site interviews, reports Agence France-Presse also follow up on the case. Zhu Xintian beaten by robbers cause jaw, wrists, shoulders, legs, knees, lumbar, sacral and other multiple injuries, was rushed to the hospital near the city of Bayonne, but fortunately no serious fractures. Though mortally wounded, but He still insists on schedule organized the 5th night opening of the exhibition, which received support. There are three robbers who speak English, not masked. According to the site investigation and analysis, which may be several robbers premeditated, start timing and looting artifacts are 'carefully' selected, not generally rob belongings they does not enter into a cash counter inside, but the target directly at the Chinese museum artifacts. According to Zhu Xintian memories, so he failed to follow the return museum robbers escape when viewed China Pavilion exhibition hall found no lights, almost is black. museum other staff also said that these people had come to inquire before banditry too, is likely to have triad behind the manipulation. Moreover, China's current so-called 'Heritage Collection hot' also contributed to the theft of cultural relics in China wind, so that the culprits were crazy to make money theft robbery. After the incident, Zhu heavens and the Chinese Embassy in France quickly get in touch, please notify domestic Embassy Cultural Office tried every auction company to inform the matter, and to prohibit the robbery of these stolen artifacts up for auction, he said it would rob the relics stolen pictures sent to the world auction company, auction these artifacts were illegally banditry will bear legal responsibility. French Oriental Art Museum is a private museum, former French President Jacques Chirac was in 2009 to visit the museum permanent collection of more than a thousand pieces, mainly from China, India and Nepal, the exhibition area of about 800 square meters. Baosi Dai is a famous museum curator archaeologists, collectors, Indian Culture Institute. Deputy Director Zhu Xintian is the Far East Art and Archaeology University of Paris, Dr. proficiency painting, oil painting, calligraphy and photography. France will usher in the first round of the holiday rush. Biarritz as a seaside holiday resort, will attract many tourists. French Museum of Oriental Art in order to better meet the tourists, launched on July 5 temporary exhibition 'Poetry and Philosophy - Zhu Xintian exhibition. 'do not want to freak accident the day before the opening of the exhibition, cause for regret. Oriental Art Museum is violent robbery incident shows further deterioration of the security situation in France, hoping to alert the French tourists. (Yuan rejoicing)
£172m worth of ashes? Fears that stolen art works could have been 'burned in stove'
Traces of canvas, paint and nails found in oven of suspect in multi-million pound art heist
Forensic specialists examining ash found in the stove of a Bulgarian woman to see if it is the remains of seven paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Monet and others that were stolen last year from the Netherlands, have found traces of canvas, paint and nails.
The finding is evidence that Olga Dogaru might have been telling the truth when she claimed to have burned the paintings, which were taken from a Dutch museum last year in a daring daylight heist. The theft of seven masterpieces, with an estimated value of between £86m-£172m, from Kunsthal Museum in the Netherlands sparked an international hunt and prompted a listing on the Interpol register of stolen art - which would have made sale of the art works virtually impossible on the open market. Prosecutors have now said that Romania's National History Museum is examining ashes found in the stove of Olga Dogaru, mother of Radu Dogaru, one of three Romanian suspects charged with stealing the paintings from Rotterdam's Kunsthal gallery in a daytime heist. The robbery, which was the biggest art theft in over a decade in the Netherlands, took place despite hi-tech security measures at the museum. Police took just five minutes to respond to alarms at the building but by the time they arrived the thieves had already made off with a Picasso, two Monets, and a Matisse, among others. According to court documents Olga Dogaru admitted last week to torching the artwork to "destroy evidence" after her son's arrest. Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, director of Romania's National History Museum, said museum forensic specialists found "small fragments of painting primer, the remains of canvas, the remains of paint" and copper and steel nails, some of which pre-dated the 20th century. "We discovered a series of substances which are specific to paintings and pictures," he said, including lead, zinc and azurite. He refused to say definitively that the ashes were those of the seven paintings stolen from Rotterdam's Kunsthal gallery last year, because he said it was not his position to do so. He said justice officials would make that decision. He did venture that if the remains were those of the paintings, it was "a crime against humanity to destroy universal art". "I can't believe in 2013 that we come across such acts," he said. Mr Oberlander-Tarnoveanu said forensic specialists at the museum have been analysing ashes from Ms Dogaru's stove since March and will hand their results to prosecutors next week. Three Romanian suspects were arrested in January, but the paintings have not been found.
Art heist at Ukkel's Van Buuren Museum
Dozens of valuable works of art have been stolen from the Van Buuren Museum in the Brussels borough of Ukkel.
The works include a masterpiece by James Ensor. Thieves forced a door to gain entrance into the museum. Museum curator Isabelle Anspach:"All the alarms went off, but the thieves were pretty fast. Everything was over in two minutes".
The Ensor is valued at more than 200,000 euros. A valuable work by the Dutch master Kees van Dongen valued at 1.5 million euros is also gone. Other stolen works include a Brueghel the Younger and an Adriaan Brouwer. In all the thieves got away with over 2 million euros' worth of art. The thieves left the most famous works in the museum. Art connoisseurs say that the thieves clearly knew what they were after and must have reconnoitered the building beforehand. Janpiet Callens says that the stolen works can hardly be traded on the open market: "Maybe the thieves were commissioned to steal particular works or they could be after a ransom."
Police double value of diamonds stolen in audacious Cannes heist to £88MILLION
Thief pointed handgun at staff in the Carlton during raid this afternoon
Raiders are believed to have fled the seafront hotel on foot
Jewellery stores on Cannes seafront are often targeted by armed robbers
Jeweler to the stars: The stolen jewels belonged to luxury jeweler Chopard, which has furnished a host of stars on red-carpet events such as British model Cara Delevingne, pictured wearing its diamonds this year
Glittering: Penelope Cruz, left, and Dita Von Tease, right, have also been seen wearing Chopard pieces this year
Vique said authorities are looking for a lone suspect who broke in through French doors at the hotel that opens out onto Cannes’ famed Croisette. The suspect then fled on foot.
Wearing a crash helmet and scarf wrapped around his face, the robber walked into the Carlton, on the French Riviera, just before midday yesterday and brandished his firearm at terrified staff. He then strode past patrolling security guards into a bedroom where the haul was being stored and stuffed them into an executive attache before strolling casually out of the hotel. He then made off on foot through the exclusive Promenade de la Croisette which stretches a mile and a half along the Cannes seafront and is thronged by the rich and famous throughout the year. It also emerged today that French police were not notified that the collection of gem-laden trinkets and upmarket watches were going on public display at an 'Extraordinary Diamonds' exhibition at the hotel. ‘The man responsible for this crime apparently walked in the main entrance to the hotel and helped himself,' said one officer. 'It is usual practice for people to inform us when so much expensive jewellery is going on display but on this occasion we did not know about it.' The stolen jewels were made by luxury jeweler Chopard and were destined for an exhibition organised by Leviev, a firm owned by London-based Russian-Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. On its website, Leviev, which opened its first jewellery store in London on Old Bond Street in 2006, claims to have access to stones 'among the most outstanding in the world.'
Raid: A police car is seen outside the Carlton hotel, in Cannes, today after thieves fled with £35million worth of jewellery
An unnamed American woman working for Chopard, the Swiss jeweller and festival sponsor, was keeping the items in her second-floor room at the hotel. Chopard had 40 staff at Cannes who tried to persuade stars to wear its products. Julianne Moore, Cindy Crawford and Cara Delevingne were all seen wearing Chopard pieces this year. Union representatives at the Carlton, which is a favourite of numerous film stars, have also expressed concern at the lack of security around prestige exhibitions. In August 1994, a security guard was shot at the Carlton as he tried to stop thieves making off with gems in a similar exhibition. In a bitter irony, the Carlton is the setting for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 film To Catch A Thief, a romantic thriller starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant about a jewel thief operating in the Riviera. One expert noted that the crime followed recent jail escapes by members of the notorious Pink Panther jewel thief gang. On Thursday, Milan Poparic escaped his Swiss prison after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s. He is the third member of the gang to escape from a Swiss prison in as many months. According to Interpol, the Pink Panthers targeted luxury watch and jewellery stores in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States, netting more than £380million. Jonathan Sazonoff, the US editor of the Museum Security Network website, said: ‘The brazen drama of it is their style. The possibility of the re-emergence of the Pink Panther gang is very troubling and taken seriously by law enforcement worldwide. They’re a crime wave waiting to happen.’ The jewels belonged to London-based Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev, who was holding an exhibition of the prestigious Leviev diamond house in the hotel lobby over the summer.
Heist: The jewellery was at a temporary exhibition at the Carlton which was being organised by Leviev
A source at the hotel said: ‘The raid took place in broad daylight when there were hundreds of holidaymakers enjoying the sunshine. It could not have been more audacious. The thief took advantage of the crowds and the relaxed Sunday atmosphere – he could easily have had others working with him.’ A Cannes police spokesman said: ‘A full and urgent operation is under way to catch the culprit and recover these jewels.’ Organised gangs frequently target boutiques and hotels in and around Cannes. Many of the raids turn out to be inside jobs, with staff helping thieves to locate and then steal items. In May, jewellery worth £1million was stolen from a hotel safe during the annual Cannes Film Festival. The 343-room InterContinental Carlton is a favourite of the stars, and is considered the ‘celebrity HQ’ during the film festival. In August 1994, three men firing machine guns burst into the Carlton and robbed its jewellery store. Later, it was discovered the gang were firing blanks. There have been several high-profile jewellery thefts in Europe this year, including one at Brussels airport in February which saw £32million worth of diamonds taken.
French Rivera: The Carlton hotel which was targeted by raiders is on the seafront in Cannes
The biggest-ever diamond heist was at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam in 2005. Dressed in stolen uniforms belonging to the Dutch airline KLM and driving a stolen KLM van, thieves hijacked an armoured truck containing uncut diamonds worth an estimated £50million. They have never been recovered. Russian-Israeli Mr Leviev, 57, lives in a £35million home in Hampstead, North-West London. The father-of-nine started his jewellery business in a boutique in London’s Old Bond Street in 2006, and the Leviev house now runs upmarket stores in cities including New York and Dubai. The film To Catch a Thief stars Grant as a former cat burglar struggling to save his reformed reputation by catching a new thief preying on the wealthy tourists of the French Riviera.
Perry Wharrie (53) was one of four men jailed in Ireland for their part in the bungled Dunlough Bay drug-smuggling operation off Mizen Head in West Cork in July 2007. Photograph: Julien Behal/PA Wire
