Picasso or Bust !!
If this turns out to BE one of my true continuous HAS Fears Become Reality!
This really throws a quite different light on All Those theories - unfounded
theories - that 'Organized Crime' is Responsible for this theft!
The paintings stolen from the Modern Art Museum were destroyed, according to Man of suspected stolen goods
What happened to the paintings by masters stolen in May 2010 to
Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris? Concealed, sold, or destroyed?
One of three suspects indicted in September claimed to have thrown the
paintings, including a Picasso and Modigliani, estimated at 100 million euros,
in the trash for disposal.
The five paintings were stolen on the night of 19 to 20 May 2010 without
the alarm system is triggered Museum.
In mid-September 2011, three men were arrested by the Brigade
Punishment of the crime (BRB) and indicted by a judge
Paris before being jailed in connection with this investigation.
The first, known as spider-man, is presented as the thief of
paintings. The second, a former Parisian antique dealer, denies that the
Sponsor of the flight. The third, who entrusted the paintings,
he claims to have destroyed in spring 2011.
Last May, the three men were arrested as part of a
another case of stolen paintings. If the first two were placed in
remand, the third, an expert on watches, had emerged
Free in custody.
After his arrest in September, he explained to investigators
have panicked after his detention and the detention of his friend
antiquarian. And said he had decided to get rid of paintings by
throwing it away.
If the story is true, five paintings of the greatest painters of the twentieth century
have therefore taken the path of a dumpster. However,
Investigations are continuing to verify the assertions of this
person. Indeed, the paintings could still be hidden pending
to be passed, according to a judicial source.
These five works are "Still life with candle holders" by Fernand Léger, "The
Pigeon Pea "by Pablo Picasso," La Pastorale "by Henri Matisse
"L'Olivier near Estaque" by Georges Braque, "The Woman with a Fan"
Amedeo Modigliani.
The alleged perpetrator of this spectacular flight says the former antique dealer himself
would have required the museum to steal a painting by Fernand Leger, for which
he would have been a potential buyer. That refutes the merchant who,
contrary, says that the thief he was offered the market.
To the investigators, "the man-spider" explains that he found in
the second marking the museum claimed that the painting was hung over
located at the place, but that was in its place another canvas
Cubist painter, "Still Life with chandeliers." But the operation is
maintained.
Once inside the museum, no alarm goes off, he won
four tables specifying the police that his evening stroll in
the walls of the museum lasted nearly two hours.
Just after this flight, the mayor of Paris had recognized a
malfunctioning part of the alarm system volume. Still, the
museum was equipped with a video-surveillance system, connected to a PC
where three security officers on duty did not see the thief who
appeared on the video images.
The five paintings will be donated to the former antiques dealer who, a few days
Later, confided to him who now claims to have destroyed.
Neither the lawyer of the latter, Toby or Me Caroline's advice
the former antique dealer and suspected thief, Laurent Binet and my David-Olivier
Kaminski, have sought to respond to questions from The Associated Press.
"The mayor of Paris forms the vows that the tables are found," he
said for his part counsel for the City of Paris, William Bourdon
recalling "the requirement of secrecy" prevailing in this type of file.
£100m masterpieces stolen from French museum 'crushed by rubbish truck'
Five stolen paintings including a Matisse, a Picasso and a Modigliani worth almost £100 million ended up in a street dustbin and were likely crushed by a rubbish truck, a suspect has reportedly told police.
Paris authorities and art lovers around the globe were appalled in May last year when a lone, hooded burglar managed to climb into the capital's Musée d'Art Moderne opposite the Eiffel Tower and help himself to the five celebrated oeuvres, which he cut from their frames and rolled up.
Thanks to a faulty alarm system and the doziness of three guards, he quietly made off with Dove with Green Peas by Pablo Picasso (painted in 1911), Pastoral by Henri Matisse (1906), Olive Tree near l'Estaque by Georges Braque (1906), Woman with Fan by Amedeo Modigliani (1919) and Still Life with Candlestick by Fernand Leger (1922).
The Art Loss Registry in London called the Pink Panther-style robbery "one of the biggest art heists ever, considering the estimated value, the prominence of the artists and the high profile of the museum".
Paris city hall put the total value of the haul at 100 million euros but some experts said they were worth twice that.
It took officers from the Serious Crime Brigade more than a year before placing three men - the alleged thief and two accomplices - under official investigation.
According to police sources cited by Le Journal du Dimanche, one of the alleged accomplices, a 34-year-old watch repairer known only as Jonathan B, told detectives that when the other two men were arrested in May, he "panicked and destroyed the canvasses before throwing them into a rubbish bin".
Detectives said that while they remained sceptical about his account, they could not "totally rule out" this catastrophic scenario. The destruction of such landmark masterpieces would be a major blow to international art heritage.
The first to be arrested was a Serb known only as Vrejan T, 43, nicknamed "Spiderman" and who was detained days after last year's heist over a separate art theft from a chic Paris apartment.
Under questioning, the suspect reportedly recounted how he loosened screws in a window at the Art Deco Palais de Tokyo housing the museum, returned a few nights later to remove the frame and sliced through a padlock on an iron grille.
He had initially gone there only to steal a Léger work to order, he said, but once inside, was "surprised" when the burglary alarm failed to sound.
Being a "veritable art lover," the Serb told police he then wandered around for another hour, eluding 30 closed circuit cameras to cherry pick four other masterpieces. "He found the Modigliani the most beautiful of all," a judicial source told the JDD.
Vrejan T reportedly told investigators he had stolen the Léger for Jean-Michel C, 56, an antiques dealer with a shop called Antiquités Bastille. He was arrested in May for selling other stolen art works.
Detectives told le JDD the Serb gave them his name as he never received the 40,000 euros promised for the Léger.
The antiques dealer denied his claims, and said the Serb left the works at his boutique without his consent. He said he then passed them onto the younger watchmaker, a recognised expert used by auction houses. He told police Jonathan B had mentioned potential Israeli buyers.
But the watchmaker told police he simply dumped the priceless works in a dustbin.
French art museums have come in for criticism in recent years after a spate of brazen robberies. Months before the modern art raid, a thief walked out of a gallery in Marseilles with Degas' The Chorus under his coat.
The FBI estimates the market for stolen art at £3 billion annually and Interpol has about 30,000 pieces of stolen art in its database.
Five masterpieces stolen from Paris museum in 'art heist of the century' could have been crushed in rubbish truck
Five world-famous paintings including ones by Picasso and Matisse worth up to £400million were crushed in a rubbish truck after being stolen, it has been claimed.
The masterpieces were all part of record-breaking haul from one of Paris's most prestigious galleries which was described by police as the 'Art Heist of the Century'.
If the claims - made by an underworld figure allegedly involved in the crime - prove true, then it will be one of the biggest catastrophes in the history of art.
In May last year a single 'cat-burglar' broke into the city's Museum of Modern Art, close to the Eiffel Tower, and got away with five pieces after cutting them from their frames.
Sleeping guards and a faulty alarm system failed to stop the hooded man as he made off with Dove with Green Peas by Pablo Picasso (1911), Pastoral by Henri Matisse (1906), Olive Tree near l'Estaque by Georges Braque (1906), Woman with Fan by Amedeo Modigliani (1919) and Still Life with Candlestick by Fernand Leger (1922).
The raid immediately leapt into crime folklore, with specialist police forces and private detective firms around the globe uniting to try and retrieve the paintings.
It took officers from the Serious Crime Brigade more than a year before placing three men - the alleged thief and two accomplices - under official investigation, but all the paintings remain missing.
Two unnamed men were finally arrested five months ago but, as soon as this happened, a third tried to destroy the evidence.
Identified as Jonathan B, a 34-year-old watch repairer, he told detectives that he 'panicked and destroyed the canvasses before throwing them into a rubbish bin.'
They then ended up in a crushing lorry and were destroyed beyond recognition, he claimed.
The first man to be arrested in May was a 43-year-old Serb 'art lover' known only as Vrejan T.
Nicknamed 'Spiderman', he was being held in connection with another art theft from a private flat in Paris.
Vrejan T. has already described in great detail how he got into the Modern Art Museum, which is housed in the Tokyo Palace in Paris, by loosening screws to a window during the day, and then returning late at night to get in.
Carrying tools to break padlocks and iron grille, he initially intended to steal a single Leger, but was pleasantly surprised when the burglar alarm did not go off.
For up to an hour, Vrejan T. managed to evade 30 CCTV cameras, while helping himself to his favourite works.
'He found the Modigliani the most beautiful of all,' a judicial source told the Journal Du Dimanche newspaper in Paris.
The third man in custody is Jean-Michel C., a 56-year-old Paris art dealer, who is said to have tried to sell other stolen works.
In an apparent classic example of the way criminals end up turning on each other, Vrejan T. is said to have reported Jean-Michel C. after he failed to receive some £36,000 for the Leger.
Police said they remained wary of the men's claims, but confirmed that they could 'not completely rule them out.'
The Museum of Modern Art has been a Paris landmark since it opened in 1961, and was considered one of the most secure in Europe.
Until the raid last May, the biggest unsolved art theft was one on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990.
Then, thieves disguised as police talked their way into the museum before handcuffing security guards and stealing 13 works of art valued at over $500 million.
The paintings have never been found.
No comments:
Post a Comment