Stolen Art Watch, Paterson Colts Recovered, Will They Go Home ??

Historic Colt Revolvers Stolen, Then Recovered, Now Owned By Travelers

http://blogs.courant.com/connecticut_insurance/2011/05/historic-colt-revolvers-stolen.html

The city of Paterson, N.J., has had bad luck with its Colts -- it keeps losing them to Hartford.

First it was legendary firearms magnate Samuel Colt, who closed his gun-making factory, the Patent Arms Manufacturing Co. in Paterson, and auctioned off its equipment in 1842. He later opened a plant in Hartford that changed the face of American industry. It is still headquartered today in West Hartford.

Then, two Colt revolvers made in the early years of the Paterson plant and worth hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen in 1998 from the city-run Paterson Museum.

For years, the museum director and city officials hoped the guns would turn up again. And they did last year. Now they're being held as evidence in the local police department.

In order for the Paterson Museum to keep the guns, however, the city would have to return an insurance payment of $235,000 that it received after the theft from Travelers. But the city spent that money years ago, and now it doesn't have the cash. Just two weeks ago, Paterson laid off 125 police officers.

That means The Travelers Cos. Inc., which has its major presence in Hartford, is the default owner of two Paterson Colts, some of the most treasured firearms in the history of U.S. manufacturing.

"Patersons are highly sought after, and adding to the zest is the fact that they've been stolen," said Herbert G. Houze of Cody, Wyo., an author, firearms expert and curator of the major Colt show at the Wadsworth Atheneum a few years ago.

Although the guns are sitting in Paterson's police station, they may be far from returning to the city's possession, dashing hopes that the crime would be solved and the museum made whole.

When an insurance company pays a claim for a rare item with subjective value, such as an antique firearm, that sets up an odd arrangement. Paterson officials said the insurer isn't looking for the present value of the Colts, or any accrued interest on the claim. Travelers only wants the amount it paid to the city 13 years ago, according to city officials.

That creates a conundrum for Paterson. If the guns are worth more than Travelers paid in 1998, the city could pay the claim and sell the guns for a profit. But the less-than-mint condition of the guns suggests that the claim amount might be more than their current value. The only way to find out the real value would be to sell the guns at auction and see how much collectors are willing to pay.

The pistols were nabbed in a smash-and-grab late on the night of Sept. 30, 1998, at the Paterson Museum. Thieves broke into the museum office, tripped the burglar alarm and fled with about $200 in petty cash, a replica Texas holster model Colt worth about $300, a 1930s Smith & Wesson police revolver that belonged to a former Paterson police officer and had no significant value, and two wooden cases about the size of cigar boxes.

Those plain-looking cases happened to contain a .28-caliber Colt Paterson Baby, or pocket model No. 1, in its original case with extra accessories that came with the gun, and a .31-caliber Colt Paterson No. 3 belt model revolver also in its original case with accessories, said Museum Director Giacomo DeStefano.

The pistols were in DeStefano's office on a photographic copy-stand, and not on display, because the museum had better quality versions of these Colt Patersons for its exhibit.

DeStefano was out giving a lecture to a historical society the night of the theft. He returned to the museum to bring back a slide projector when he discovered the burglary. He called Paterson police, who had already responded to the security alarm and come to the museum, finding no one there.

Artifacts in the museum's exhibit space were left untouched in the heist. DeStefano says he is positive the thieves were looking only for cash and items they could sell at a pawn shop. That's because they came back later the same night and took a stereo in the office, but again left alone the collection of 31 antique Colt Patersons on display at the museum.

The city filed a claim with Travelers and received $95,000 for the .28-caliber pistol and $140,000 for the .31-caliber pistol.

No Prosecution

Years went by without any leads on the crime. Then, last November, DeStefano got a call from an antiques dealer who said a man in Butler, N.J., about 16 miles northwest of Paterson, was attempting to sell the stolen Colts on the Internet.

"I had heard it so many times before -- people would call and say, 'Someone is selling your Patersons,'" DeStefano said.

This time was different. DeStefano noticed that one of the cases the Butler man had was missing a spare accessory for the gun, a spare cylinder, which matched a missing accessory in a case stolen from the Paterson Museum. The Butler man also mentioned the replica that was stolen.

DeStefano called the police. He and two Paterson police detectives posed as antiques dealers and arranged to meet the Butler man at a neutral location in Garfield, N.J.. The value of the guns made the Butler man nervous about inviting people to his home, DeStefano said.

DeStefano sensed that the guns were the ones stolen from the museum as soon as he saw them. He took the Colt Patersons in his hands and disassembled them to see the serial numbers.

"I was pretty calm up until I saw the serial numbers, and I started shaking inside. ... Then I gave the detective the nod," DeStefano said.

The detectives and DeStefano told the Butler man their real identities, and he cooperated with an investigation. The man, whom neither DeStefano nor police would name, is not a suspect in the theft.

The Butler man said he discovered the guns stuffed under insulation in the attic during a renovation project on a house that he bought a few years before, DeStefano said. The home had several owners between the time the pistols were stolen in 1998 and the time they were recovered last year.

Police still don't have a lead in the crime, but it's no longer an active criminal case.

Paterson Police Lt. Ron Humphrey, who was the original detective on the case in 1998, said that even if someone walked into the station and admitted the crime, he couldn't arrest that person for it. The five-year statute of limitations has expired.

Like A Shipwreck

The city of Paterson has struggled financially for years, selling off property to balance its budget even before the recent layoffs.

The city council has discussed the antique Colts, but isn't about to buy them back, said Paterson Budget Director Russell Forenza.

"It would have always been a strain," he said, reflecting back to better economic conditions, adding, "If Travelers would like to make a donation, that's not a problem."

If the city is unable, or unwilling, to pay the insurance claim from its $237 million budget, the burden is on Travelers to determine how long to wait before taking hold of the pistols.

Travelers declined to comment, saying it does not discuss dealings with its customers.

And what happens to items that are recovered after an insurer has paid a claim? There's a long history of that.

"Such things go back to shipwrecks," said Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, a property-casualty trade group.

The earliest form of insurance dates back to marine coverage in England during the 17^th century for ships and their cargo. Sometimes, a ship would become victim of the sea and the owner would file a claim. If the shipwreck is later discovered, the insurer owns the cargo until the original owner gives back the claim money, Hartwig said.

It's the same scenario for stolen cars or artwork. If the item is recovered after an insurer paid a claim, and the policyholder isn't able to pay back the claim money, the insurer sells the property for the best possible price.

"This is common: a car is stolen, and the car is recovered," Hartwig said. "Insurers don't have garages full of old cars. They sell them off."

An auction is a likely venue to get the best price, Hartwig said. The price that the guns get at auction depends on their condition, said James Ferrell, a specialist in arms and armor with Bonhams & Butterfields auction house. It's anyone's guess if they will sell for more or less than Travelers paid on the insurance claim.

If the Paterson Museum's Colt Patersons are sold at auction, it's unlikely they would end up at the Museum of Connecticut History, which has the state's most impressive public collection of Colts, said museum administrator Dean Nelson.

"We actually do have some choice Patersons here," Nelson said.

Besides, Nelson said, "It would be far out of our realm of active bidding."

Private collectors, on the other hand, are likely to be interested in such rare guns. The Paterson plant made only 2,850 pistols and fewer than 2,000 rifles, carbines and shotguns, DeStefano said. Nobody knows how many survived and are in good shape today, though experts estimate about 10 percent are known to exist.

Even fewer are available in the original case with accessories.

"Placing these into the market can create a lot of excitement," said Wes Dillon, a firearms coordinator with the James D. Julia Inc. auction house, a premier seller of investment-grade firearms.

The James D. Julia auction house sold a Colt Whitneyville-Walker in 2008 for the highest price ever paid at auction for a single firearm -- $920,000 -- according to Auction Central News.

"It creates a lot of excitement any time a new item is dangled in front of affluent buyers for a relative bargain," Dillon said.

Houze -- who wrote "Samuel Colt: Arms, Art and Invention" to coincide with a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and other books about antique firearms -- said the Colt Patersons are the most sought-after because they're the earliest, and the ones in Paterson's police station would certainly draw an audience of affluent bidders.

Even though it's likely the pistols will be auctioned and become the property of a private collector, DeStefano holds out hope they eventually will return to a museum, preferably the Paterson Museum. That's how the museum got these Colt Patersons in the first place -- they were donated by the estate of Paul Applegate Jr., of Morristown, N.J., in 1982.

"That's the thing," DeStefano said. "Hopefully, they'll end up back here one day."

Stolen Art Watch, Goodnight Vienna, As Boeckl and Berg Go Missing !!

Art heist in Carinthia

http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2011-04-27/32708/Art_heist_in_Carinthia

Precious paintings by two Carinthian modern art trailblazers have been stolen from a pensioner’s apartment, police have said.

The works by late painters Herbert Boeckl and Werner Berg were nicked from the living room of the flat in Maria Wörth just outside provincial capital Klagenfurt yesterday or on Monday, officials said today (Weds).

The two pieces of art are valued at 40,000 Euros in all.

The theft occurred around half a year after a painting by late Polish artist Wojciech Kossak worth around 30,000 Euros disappeared from the hallway of Vienna’s five-star Hotel Bristol.

Stolen Art Watch, Toronto Smash and Grab Art Heist, Sherman Tanked !!

Arrest made in Yorkville art theft

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/04/21/arrest-made-in-yorkville-art-theft/

Police have arrested one suspect and are searching for another two weeks after a pair of thieves smashed their way into a Yorkville art gallery, stealing three paintings worth an estimated $73,000.

Aaron Sherman, 43, has been charged with break-and-enter, mischief and two counts of failing to comply with probation.

Toronto police have released a surveillance image of the remaining suspect.

The artwork, meanwhile, is still missing.

The heist occurred, in the early morning of April 7, at 196 Davenport Rd. Two men smashed the front windows, entered the gallery and removed the framed paintings from the walls.

Security cameras recorded images of a man casing the gallery days before the theft. An officer recognized the suspect in the security image and was able to make the arrest, said Constable Wendy Drummond, spokesperson for Toronto Police.

The widespread use of security cameras should have deterred the criminals, she said. “Yet people continue to commit criminal offence knowing full well their images have been captured.”

Raphael Wagner, president of Odon Wagner Gallery, said this was the company’s greatest loss in 42 years of business, “but we’re very pleased an arrest has been made. Obviously, if the paintings are findable, of course I would want them back.”

The stolen paintings are: Wild Fields by Greg Harris, Still Life with Flowers by Weidong Wang, and Seated Lady with Fan by Zhao Kaolin.

Odon Wagner Gallery specializes in 18th and 19th Century European Paintings.

Stolen Art Watch, Nazi Medal and Dagger Collector Raided !!

Thieves ransack collector’s military hoard

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/04/20/thieves-ransack-collector-s-military-hoard-91466-28550115/

A WIDOWER was left devastated when callous thieves broke into his home stealing thousands of pounds worth of military memorabilia, including Nazi medals and daggers.

Brian Morgan, who returned home to find it ransacked, said: “It was a huge shock – I did not know what to do with myself. The living room was a complete mess. They had smashed up everything including my 4ft fish tank.

“I just cannot understand why anyone would do such a thing.”

Among the rare World War Two items stolen are two Iron Cross medals, a German rapier, dress knives, plus an 8ins bronze statue of a Japanese Samurai warrior and three 18th-century rapiers.

The 71-year-old said: “I have always had an interest in military things since I was a young boy and I am now a member of Tondu Shooting Club.

“I have collected a lot of memorabilia over the past 25 to 30 years.

“They did not take everything but they did take the items that I liked the most.

“Some of the daggers alone were worth £500 to £600 – luckily they are all insured because their value could run into a few thousand pounds.

“One statue was of a civilian soldier signed by Japanese manufacturer Yamamoto. I should imagine it would be very difficult to get hold of something like that.”

Three money boxes were also smashed open in the burglary, one of which contained £390.

Mr Morgan said he had received calls in the last month from a man who specifically inquired about the antiques, which were on display in a glass cabinet in the living room of his home in South Street, Bridgend, while others were hanging from the walls.

The pensioner, who lives alone after his wife died two years ago, discovered burglars had struck when he returned home on Friday afternoon.

“As I arrived home I could see that I had been broken into,” he said.

“The wood around the lock at the back door had come loose. They must have used some kind of tool to break it apart.”

But he managed to save the shattered tank’s three tropical discus fish.

“They were on their side but I quickly transferred them to a smaller tank I have in the kitchen,” Mr Morgan said.

Detective Constable Tristan Evans, of Porthcawl CID, said: “The stolen property is very unusual and we are appealing for any information regarding this burglary.”

Art Hostage Comments:

Why anyone would want to collect Nazi medals, daggers etc is beyond me. Something morbid and distasteful that leaves one with a bad taste in the mouth.

Every Nazi associated thing has the blood of six million innocent people dripping from them.

In other news, French Police BRB investigating an art raid on an apartment in Paris where artworks valued at $500,000 were taken.

Stolen Art Watch, Egypt Van Gogh, Officials Fall on Sword, Jailed, Year and Six Months !

Egypt court jails officials over Van Gogh theft

http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE73K16320110421

CAIRO, April 21 (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Thursday jailed five officials, including a former head of the state's fine arts department, over the theft of a Van Gogh painting worth an estimated $55 million, state media said.

"Vase with Viscaria" was stolen in August from Cairo's Mahmoud Khalil museum, home to one of the Middle East's finest collections of 19th and 20th-century art.

The state MENA news agency and court officials said the five had been found guilty of "causing the theft of the painting," without giving further details.

The painting has not been recovered.

A police investigation soon after the theft found that security measures at the museum were extremely lax, raising fears about the safety of the treasure trove of art and antiquities on display in Egypt.

Legal sources said the court sentenced Mohsen Shaalan, who was head of the culture ministry's fine arts department, to one year in jail and ordered him to perform community service.

Four other employees at the museum were given six-month prison terms, said the sources.

The museum houses works assembled by Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil, a politician who died in 1953, including paintings by Gauguin, Monet, Manet and Renoir, as well as the Dutch post-Impressionist master Vincent Van Gogh.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris offered a 1-million pound ($168,000) reward for information leading to the recovery of the painting.

Stolen Art Watch, John Hobbs, Contemporary Jonathan Wild !!

John Hobbs

John Hobbs , who has died aged 64, emerged from the demi-monde of postwar west London to become one of the most successful antique dealers of his generation ; when his restorer accused him of selling fakes, however, he faced professional disgrace and financial ruin.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/8454738/John-Hobbs.html

John Edmund Hobbs was born in St Albans on May 8 1946, the second of four children of Sidney Hobbs and his wife Beatrice, known as Kitty. The family soon moved to Fulham where Sid was, until 1968, the proprietor of Odds & Hobbs, a junk shop at which he held court to a circle of local characters, many of a roguish stripe.

John worked with his father from the age of 14 and was later apprenticed to a local tallyman. There he became a “knocker” – knocking on doors to charm from the occupants furniture which could be sold on to the trade at great profit. This was a time when many grand town houses were disgorging their contents before being sliced into flats.

A youth of striking beauty – described by the society antiques dealer Christopher Gibbs as looking “as if he’d strayed from a band of angels in a quattrocento painting” – Hobbs soon found himself, during a period when rigid class barriers were disintegrating, to be something of an adornment in the Chelsea hinterlands. This presented a variety of unlikely opportunities, and he was taken up by Nell Dunn, then married to the writer Jeremy Sandford, who had moved across the river from fashionable Cheyne Walk to working-class Battersea.

There was much of Hobbs in the book she wrote of her experiences, Up The Junction (1963), and even more in the film version that followed in 1968; but it was not until a paternity test nearly 30 years later that Hobbs was to discover that, as a 17-year-old, he had fathered Dunn’s first child, Reuben, born in 1964.

For a period Hobbs was close with John Bindon, the notorious Fulham tough who had been his senior at St Mark’s School, and together they discovered many interests in common – not least gambling, recreational stimulants and women . Like Bindon, Hobbs was prone to stray . By his own account, his younger self was no stranger to fencing stolen goods and housebreaking. One such foray, he claimed, was to the home of the politician and journalist Woodrow Wyatt. In the newspapers the next day, Wyatt trumpeted that he had seen off the intruders – but in reality, Hobbs asserted, he had hidden under the bedcovers shouting: “Take what you want but don’t touch me.”

Other misdemeanours included lending Nicholas Van Hoogstraten his car, which the vengeful property baron used (without Hobbs’s knowledge) in a hand-grenade attack on the home of a former business associate. Hobbs also ran into trouble after a weekend in France with the gossip columnist Nigel Dempster’s new wife. His cover was blown when his clothes went missing in transit, only to be mistakenly delivered by Heathrow staff to Dempster at his office. Fisticuffs followed; the marriage headed swiftly to divorce.

Meanwhile Hobbs was still “running furniture”, and had been joined by his brother Carlton, who was nine years younger . In 1974 they set up business in the newly-established Kings Road Furniture Cave, supplying pieces, at a modest markup, mainly to the trade. The early days at the “Cave” were perhaps Hobbs’s happiest. The place had the air of a club – albeit a thoroughly disreputable one whose membership embraced an eclectic mix of dealers, housebreakers and pimps, not to mention a smattering of Old Etonians – where work often took a back seat to the serious business of poker and backgammon. Hobbs, invariably dressed in an ankle-length leather overcoat with the collar up, was the frontman, while Carlton preferred to stay in the background.

The brothers’ ambitions eventually outgrew the “Cave”. A crucial decision was to widen the international horizons of their buying. Carlton began to trawl Europe buying up “stale” stock there which was still “fresh” to the English market. Biedermeier furniture, in particular, was beginning to be appreciated, and the brothers bought boldly and well, made big profits, and met new clients.

In 1987 they managed to secure, on the flip of a coin, a lease on premises at 107 Pimlico Road in Chelsea. Soon they became major players, travelling through Scandinavia, then awash with Russian furniture, which they brought back to London. They also began to make a splash in the salerooms, outgunning established dealers to bag some notable trophy lots at auction.

“To Pimlico”, wrote Gibbs, “the Hobbs brothers brought a refreshing glamour and a flamboyant European sense of theatre.” Their regular clients included Valentino, Mercedes Bass, Edmund Safra, Elton John and Leslie Wexner, as well as decorators such as Renzo Mongiardino, Juan Pablo Molyneux, Peter Marino and Brian McCarthy. But this meteoric transformation did not go unremarked. Competitors speculated about a shadowy millionaire backer or accused them of selling to undiscriminating celebrity clients. What the critics did not know about was the discreet arrangement the Hobbs brothers had made for the exclusive services of a Kent-based restorer, Dennis Buggins.

Despite their success, tensions between the brothers forced a split in 1993. Hobbs, under his own name for the first time, moved to a cavernous gallery behind Chelsea Barracks. Here – despite a disastrous joint venture with Ariane Dandois, the long-term mistress of Elie de Rothschild, that led to years of rancour and legal expense – his business continued to flourish, his stock constantly replenished with remarkable treasures, which were sold to an ever-increasing clientele lured in by “ the drop dead bezazz” of what was on offer.

Many of his clients became friends, in particular Jeffrey Steiner, the billionaire head of the Fairchild Corporation, who had wandered into the original Pimlico Road shop one Saturday in 1988 and breezily dropped over £1 million.

When staying at Steiner’s villa in the South of France, Hobbs claimed he was prevailed upon to supply a reefer to an elderly guest. The recipient collapsed after partaking and, it was assumed, had died. Panic ensued with Steiner insisting that the body be taken off his premises. But as Hobbs helped his host bundle the “cadaver” into the boot of a car, it revived, to inquire, not unreasonably: “What the hell do you think you’re playing at?”

In 2002 Hobbs hit the professional jackpot when he negotiated a £7 million guarantee to sell much of his stock at Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg in New York. Meanwhile, by 2005, Carlton had moved his business to Manhattan, having acquired and refurbished a mansion that was originally home to the socialite Birdie Vanderbilt. Then disaster struck.

Buggins had continued to work exclusively for both brothers even after their demerger. But in 2007 Carlton filed a multi-million-dollar suit against the restorer, claiming that some pieces had not been delivered and that others were damaged. Fearful of the repercussions of this dispute, Hobbs attempted to broker a settlement, but failed. Soon, he too was in litigation with the restorer. It was an act of professional suicide. After losing both his major clients — and after being forced to shut down his workshop and sell his home — Buggins decided to go public with allegations against Hobbs, even if an injunction prevented him from discussing Carlton.

A last-minute attempt to convince Buggins to retract failed and, in April 2008, The Sunday Times ran a front-page article entitled: “Whistleblower reveals £30m antiques scam”. Buggins claimed that since 1992 his workshop has handled 1,875 items for Hobbs, more than half of which involved major alterations or outright inventions. Photographs and records provided by Buggins showed how he had transformed ordinary pieces of furniture into high-end antiques. Such had been Hobbs’s demand for period wardrobes, he alleged, that it had even been necessary to rent a barn in which to store them.

The embellished items were then attributed by Hobbs to the great cabinetmakers of the past, and described as “rare” and “significant”. One such invention, described by Hobbs as a “large and important gilt metal mounted mahogany pedestal partners desk, early 19th-century in the manner of Marsh and Tatham”, had an asking price of £1.2 million. Buggins claimed he had designed the desk himself and the cost for labour and materials had been £100,000.

Fearing the attentions of the law and his clients, Hobbs shipped much of his stock over to Switzerland and closed up the gallery, insisting that the timing was incidental: “We’re taking this opportunity to redecorate, that’s all.” But it never reopened. The British Antique Dealers’ Association suspended him. Carlton, back in the States, swiftly reached an undisclosed settlement with Buggins, understood to involve a payment of more than a million pounds to the restorer.

The restorer’s revelations provoked great anxiety among decorators – and their clients – around the world. That June, a pair of commodes that Hobbs had sold to a Swedish businessman for £395,000 in 1997 was withdrawn from a Sotheby’s sale in New York after a tip-off from a journalist. The catalogue described them as German neo-Classical, circa 1800, with a high estimate of $300,000: but Buggins produced evidence that he had made them out of a few old wardrobes and cedar from a local timber merchant.

For Hobbs, the impact was ruinous. His stock, when he could sell it, was now worth only a fraction of its previous value. He faced escalating legal bills and a large unanticipated tax demand. Worse, his health – he had been diagnosed with cancer in 2004 – was fast deteriorating. He finally reached a settlement with Buggins at the High Court last November, moments before he was due to be cross-examined. The agreement involved a substantial cash payment, again to the restorer, and the legal costs of both sides were thought to have reached more than £1 million.

A tall, well-built man and snappy dresser – he favoured the Fulham tailor Dimi Major – Hobbs always wore his hair “over the collar”. He was charismatic and capable of attracting real loyalty. But he understood when and how to apply menace, and was a doughty litigant, whose long-running disputes with Jacob Rothschild , the French and Italian authorities, and Buggins kept many lawyers in clover. He also had a self-destructive personality and a gambler’s disregard for consequences. He spent most of his life battling addictions to drink and drugs and was prone to depression.

He married first, in 1987 (dissolved 2002), Lola Wigan, the daughter of the Dorset racehorse breeder Dare Wigan. He married secondly, in 2003 (dissolved 2008), Dolores King. He also fathered two further children, a daughter, Rebecca, with Loretta Land in 1967, and a son, Rupert, with Sonia Dean in 1970 (he also assumed paternal responsibilities for her daughter, Elly).

John Hobbs died on March 13 at his flat in Putney. He was working on his memoirs, to be titled Honest John.

Stolen Art Watch, Pink Panthers, Two for the Price of One !!

Pink Panther gang strikes again and again?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8458805/Pink-Panther-gang-strikes-again.html

An armed gang have raided two casinos in two hours in the south of France, stealing £90,000, prompting fears the notorious Pink Panthers gang have struck again.

By Peter Allen in Paris

In the first case, the meticulously planned attack saw six men in face masks brandishing Kalashnikovs and stun grenades arriving at the Partouche Casino in Aix-en-Provence in stolen sports cars soon after 2am on Monday morning.

They then led a croupier to a safe and, threatening him with a rifle butt, emptied it of around £90,000 pounds in front of terrified customers.

Two hours later they raided another Partouche Casino 50 miles away in La Ciotatas it was closing, threatening staff customers before escaping with an undisclosed sum.

The Pink Panther gang, usually known for their audacious jewwellery heists, are now thought to have been responsible for all 11 casino raids in France in the past year.

A spokesman for the Marseille anti-banditry brigade investigating the latest robberies said: “In the first raid, the men emptied the casino of all its funds and then made off at high speed on to the motorway towards Marseilles.

“Both robberies showed the typical modus operandi of the Pink Panthers, swift, meticulously planned, brutally efficient and using heavy weapons.”

Prosecutors from the Anti-Banditry Brigade in Marseilles are connecting the raid with nine carried out since April 2010, including one on the Lucien Barriere Casino in nearby Cassis in February.

The Pink Panthers earned their name in 1993 after stealing a £500,000 diamond from a jewellers in London's Mayfair and hiding it in a jar of face cream.

It was a tactic copied from the 1963 Pink Panther film, starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.

The Pink Panthers are said to speak several languages and travel on genuine passports issued to other people, but with the photos changed.

They have carried out around 120 heists across the globe, including further thefts in London, as well as in Paris, Dubai, Geneva, Monaco and Tokyo.

In all they have got away with some £150 million worth of goods from luxury stores, and millions of pounds worth of cash from casinos, during the past two decades.

Nowadays France, and especially the Riviera, has become their favoured place to carry out their crimes.

In 2008 a court in Chambery, south-eastern France, found three Serb members of the Pink Panthers guilty of robberies in Biarritz, Cannes, Courchevel and Saint-Tropez.

Art Hostage Comments:

Lets not be too hasty as this is a Modus Vivendi between Pink Panthers and the de la Brise de Mer, with a sprinkling of Marseille Crime and Separatist groups.

The worst area for crime is the Mediterranean coast (one of the most corrupt and crime-ridden regions in Europe), particularly around Marseille and Nice, where most crime is attributable to a vicious underworld of racketeers and drug dealers. Marseille is notorious as the centre of organised crime such as drug-trafficking, money-laundering, robbery and prostitution. There’s a growing use of guns in urban crime, and gang killings are fairly frequent in Marseille and Corsica, where separatist groups such as the Front Libéral National Corse ( FLNC), Cuncolta Naziunalist and the Mouvement pour l’Autodétermination ( MPA) have become increasingly violent in recent years.

Stolen Art Watch, Pink Panthers, Sun is Shining, The Boys Are Back In Town !!!

Have the Pink Panthers struck again? Gang uses Kalashnikovs and stun grenades to steal £90k in daring raid on French casino

An armed gang brandishing Kalashnikovs and stun grenades have raided a casino in the south of France - sparking fears the infamous Pink Panther crime mob may have struck again.

The meticulously planned attack saw six men in face masks arriving at the Partouche Casino in Aix-en-Provence in stolen sports cars soon after 2am.

They then led a croupier to a safe and, threatening him with a rifle butt, emptied it of around £90,000 in euros in front of terrified customers.

It was the 10th raid on a casino in France over the past year, with the Pink Panthers suspected on almost every occasion.

The Pink Panthers are one of Europe's most feared criminal outfits and are thought to be behind many of the most audacious jewellery heists in recent history.

‘Nobody was hurt this time around, but it was an extremely brutal raid,’ said a police source investigating the raid in Aix, a city hugely popular with British tourists and expatriates.

Confirming that the raid had all the hallmarks of a Pink Panther hit, the source said: ‘The men emptied the casino of all its funds and then made off at high speed on to the motorway towards Marseilles.

‘They were clearly experienced criminals who had done this type of thing before. They were armed to the teeth with weapons from eastern Europe.’

Prosecutors from the Anti-Banditry Brigade in Marseilles are connecting the raid with 10 carried out since April 2010, including one on the Lucien Barriere Casino in nearby Cassis in February.

The Pink Panthers earned their name in 1993 after stealing a £500,000 diamond from a jewellers in London's Mayfair and hiding it in a jar of face cream.

It was a tactic copied from the 1963 Pink Panther film, starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Closeau.

The Pink Panthers are said to speak several languages and travel on genuine passports issued to other people, but with the photos changed.

They have carried out around 120 heists across the globe, including further thefts in London, as well as in Paris, Dubai , Geneva , Monaco and Tokyo.

In all they have got away with some 150 million pounds worth of goods from luxury stores, and millions of pounds worth of cash from casinos, during the past two decades.

Nowadays France, and especially the Riviera, has become their favoured place to carry out their crimes.

In 2008 a court in Chambery, south-eastern France, found three Serb members of the Pink Panthers guilty of robberies in Biarritz, Cannes, Courchevel and Saint-Tropez.

Stolen Art Watch, Hamptons Art Heists Solved !!

Suspect Arraigned For East End Art Thefts

http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/news/380297/Arrest-Made-In-Connection-With-Burglaries-Involving-Artwork-Thefts

A Medford man was indicted and more than 40 works of art totaling about $600,000 have been recovered in connection with a recent rash of art thefts throughout the East End.

The investigation is ongoing, however, as the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and multiple East End police departments search for accomplices and additional missing art.

The D.A.’s office, along with detectives from various police agencies, have been investigating the theft of nearly 40 paintings, lithographs and other valuables from homes on Shelter Island, in Southold and in the villages of East Hampton and Southampton.

Angel Giovanni Palencia, 24, was arraigned on a grand jury indictment Friday morning in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead where he pleaded not guilty to six counts of burglary in the second degree and one count of grand larceny in the second degree, both felonies that have a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

Mr. Palencia was arrested on Thursday, April 6, by Southold Town Police after a North Fork art dealer alerted officers that the man had tried to sell him stolen artwork, District Attorney Thomas A. Spota said during a press conference Friday morning in the D.A.’s office in Riverhead, where some of the stolen art was displayed.

Mr. Palencia first contacted the dealer—who requested that authorities not release his name—in December, telling him he had acquired several works of art in return for cleaning someone’s basement, but the dealer declined to purchase anything, Mr. Spota said. In January, Mr. Palencia contacted the dealer again with an offer to sell a $4,000 oil painting of a seated woman—which had been stolen from a Southold home—and said he had a companion painting of a man, but the dealer again declined to make a purchase, Mr. Spota said.

On April 5, Mr. Palencia reached out to the dealer a third time, offering to sell him five paintings, Mr. Spota said, including a $35,000 painting of a woman knitting in a garden that had been stolen from an East Hampton Village home. The dealer learned the paintings had been reported stolen when he contacted an appraiser, the district attorney said. The dealer then contacted Southold Police. Detectives had the dealer record a conversation with Mr. Palencia and invite him to the dealer’s business, where the arrest was made.

Mr. Spota said the defendant has been cooperative with police, but has insisted that he acted alone in the burglaries.

“Quite frankly, our detectives are a little too sophisticated for that,” Mr. Spota said, adding that the authorities believe there are accomplices. He said other individuals have been interviewed, but he stopped short of saying there would be further arrests.

Mr. Palencia is accused of burglarizing two Southampton Village homes—one on Captains Neck Lane and one at the corner of Gin Lane and First Neck Lane—one on Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton Village, two Shelter Island homes—both on Rocky Point Road—and one Southold home on Soundview Avenue—all in January and February.

Mr. Palencia admitted he had some familiarity with some of the burglarized homes, Mr. Spota said. He did carpentry work on a home police said he burglarized in Southold, and on Shelter Island, he was employed by a painting contractor who had done work on one of the homes and knew there was a spare key in a particular outside location, Mr. Spota said. Mr. Palencia told the authorities he picked the East Hampton Village home at random after glimpsing valuables through a window, the district attorney said.

There were no signs of a forced entry at any of the homes, which were all unoccupied.

Works have been recovered at Mr. Palencia’s home, as well as at art businesses in Westbury and Mineola, where some had been purchased.

“I don’t believe he has the sophistication he thought he had,” Mr. Spota, said, noting that Mr. Palencia grabbed some items, but left untouched other pieces that were more nearby and more valuable.

Mr. Palencia is being held at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverside in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Mr. Spota praised the “outstanding police work” by Southampton Village Police, East Hampton Village Police, Southold Town Police and Shelter Island Town Police, as well as Suffolk County Police detectives and D.A. investigators.

Some of the recovered pieces have not been associated with any of the known burglaries, leading the authorities to believe that more homeowners may discover missing art from their homes in the future.

“We suspect that once folks who live elsewhere return to their summer homes out in the Hamptons or out in Southold, the North Fork or South Fork, they are going to probably discover that their homes have been burglarized and items of art have been taken,” Mr. Spota said.

Mystery North Fork art dealer helped crack theft case

Who is he? Who is the mystery man who investigators say played a critical role in breaking the case of the theft of more than $500,000 in artwork and other valuables from unoccupied East End homes during the winter?

He’s a North Fork art dealer, said District Attorney Tom Spota, who declined to give the man’s name. Mr. Spota said the art dealer was contacted three times by Angel Giovanni Palencia, 24, of Medford, trying to sell the stolen art. Mr. Palencia was indicted Friday on felony burglary and grand larceny charges connected to a string of art thefts in Southold, Shelter Island, Southampton and East Hampton. He is being held on $500,000 bail.

The North Fork dealer grew suspicious, and after he learned through a fellow dealer that some of the art was reported stolen in East Hampton, he contacted the Southold Town Police.

Southold Police arrested Mr. Palencia on April 6 after recording a conversation between him and the art dealer, the district attorney said during a Friday morning press conference at the County Criminal Court Building in Riverside.

Mr. Palencia is alleged to have taken a painting and a silver tea set from a house on Soundview Avenue in Southold, and a painting and a stamp collection from a Rocky Point Road residence on Shelter Island.

Flanked by samples of the stolen art recovered by investigators and joined by area law enforcement officers, the DA said Mr. Palencia had admitted to the thefts, but said he was working on his own.

But police think otherwise.

“Nobody believes that this defendant was working by himself,” said Mr. Spota. “He certainly wasn’t running around to houses in East Hampton and looking in windows.”

Police said there’s no evidence of forced entry at any of the burglarized homes and the property owners said the windows were locked and the alarms set.

Mr. Spota stopped short of describing the crimes as part of an organized art theft ring. He did say, “The police are looking at a number of individuals they believe may have participated.”

Mr. Palencia is accused of taking 30 works of art and other valuables worth between $550,000 and $600,000 during January and February.

The defendant is no stranger to the East End, the DA added. He’s worked as a carpenter on Shelter Island and for a painting contractor on the North Fork. While working on Shelter Island, he had knowledge of an extra house key kept outside which “he found to be very handy,” said the DA

Southold police said Mr. Palencia, an undocumented worker, was arrested on a DWI charge in Southold several years ago.

Investigators said some of the stolen artwork is still missing, but they’ve also recovered pieces that have not been reported stolen. Southold Police Chief Ty Cochran said the owners are most likely second-home owners unaware of the thefts.

Stolen Art Watch, El Greco Announces Goya Adored !!

Stolen Goya and El Greco Recovered in Spain

Police officers with the Civil Guard in Spain have uncovered two priceless paintings. The "La Anunciación" by El Greco and "La Aparición de la Virgen del Pilar" by Francisco de Goya. They were found in a house in Alicante, both have been missing since the end of the 1990s.

The two works of art are an important part of Spain's art heritage. They belonged to a private collection but have been loaned to international art exhibitions for the last two decades. The paintings were well known to art lovers and historians and have been displayed on the Arts Loss Register an international organization set up to trace stolen art since the theft. It is always a huge relief when works are recovered in an undamaged state and it looks like these two paintings have been unscathed and well looked after. They were reported missing by their owners after their return to Spain in the late 1990s. The police report lodged after after their disappearance was filed locally as well as with Interpol to alert police forces in the region as well as the global community of art professionals. This process makes it difficult for the thieves to sell works of art on to prospective buyers and produces a subculture of collectors willing to hang the stolen works..

Last Autumn, October, investigators received information in the region after a tip off of a possible sale of the two paintings. The investigation was intensified recently, and this led to the discovery of both paintings at a private address in the province of Alicante.

Everyone at the villa was arrested, even the family pets.

Stolen Art Watch, Cut and Thrust of Stealing History !!

Sword collection from Russia's imperial past is stolen

http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-20725-sword-collection-from-russia-s-imperial-past-is-stolen/

Thieves have stolen a rare collection of antique Russian swords.

The thieves struck overnight Saturday or during the day on Sunday, forcing their way into a storeroom in Common Road, Eton Wick, where the swords were kept.

The 25 swords from Russia's imperial past are worth about £100,000.

They belong to Tony Oliver, 75, who runs the History on Wheels museum in Eton Wick. The museum's unique collection of wartime and veteran vehicles is world famous.

Anyone with information that could lead to the recovery of the stolen swords is asked to contact Slough CID on 0845 8 505 505 and ask for PC Marsh, or email polly.marsh@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Stolen Art Watch, Strad Violin Thieves Jailed

Man jailed for Stradivarius violin theft at Euston

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13011787

A Gypsy Traveller has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for stealing a £1.2m Stradivarius violin at Euston station.

John Michael Maughan, 30, of no fixed address, but originally from Dublin, and two Gypsy Traveller boys, aged 15 and 16, took the instrument from a Korean-born classical musician, Min-Jin Kym.

The 16-year-old was detained for 10 months. The younger boy will be sentenced at a later date.

Maughan and the boys, from Tottenham, admitted the theft at Blackfriars Crown Court in March.

All the defendants - who were arrested after an appeal on BBC1's Crimewatch - blamed each other for the theft and the instrument's disappearance.

The case containing the 1696 violin, a £62,000 Peccatte bow and another bow worth £5,000, were taken on 29 November 2010 when their 32-year-old owner stopped to eat at a cafe outside the central London station.

They have not been recovered.

'Low resale value'

Following the sentencing, a spokesperson for the violinist said: "Ms Kym has suffered greatly from the theft of her beloved violin on a personal level and, naturally, it has also affected her professionally."

The court heard the thieves were spotted in an internet cafe in Tottenham, north London, trying to sell the violin to a man sitting next to them for £100.

Maughan has 123 previous offences against his name.

British Transport Police said the violin would be almost impossible to resell because it has several unique marks and a unique chin rest.

Det Insp Andy Rose said: "The recovery and return of these extremely precious items remains the chief focus of our investigation, with the reward for their return now up to £30,000. This case is far from closed.

"Although the items are extremely valuable, I want to re-emphasise that their sell-on value, in monetary terms, is low because they are unique.

"It would be very easy for an arts and antiques or instrument dealer to recognise them as stolen property.

"We believe the items could still be held within the travelling community and it is also possible they will be offered for sale within the antique or musical trade, either in England or in Ireland."

Stolen Art Watch, Toronto Art Heist, Dukes of Yorkville Strike Again !!

Three paintings stolen from Toronto gallery

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/971588--three-paintings-stolen-from-toronto-gallery?bn=1

Police are searching for three paintings valued at $73,000 after a smash-and-grab theft from a Yorkville gallery.

Officers found the front window broken when they responded to an alarm early Thursday at the Odon Wagner Gallery.

The missing paintings are “Wild Fields” by Greg Harris, “Still Life With Flowers” by Weidong Wang, and “Seated Lady With Fan” by Zhao Kaolin.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-5306, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

Art Hostage Comments:

Ray Hobin and Darryl Vincent, doing a bit of late night shopping !!!

Ira Hussey waiting in the car !!

Stolen Art Watch, Diamonds Worth Millions Reported Stolen at BaselWorld

Basel - Four diamonds worth millions have been stolen from a stand at the world's biggest jewellery fair in Basel.
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A spokesman for Basel's prosecutor's office, Markus Melzl, said the robbery occurred at around 11am this morning when "three diverted the attention of the diamond trader's employees, while two others opened the showcase".
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The Israeli trader, whose identity has not yet been revealed, first realised that the four diamonds worth millions of euro had been stolen some fifteen minutes later.
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After the robbery, the exhibition hall was closed for half an hour, but the thieves had already run away. According to the local police, the theft may have involved 4-5 'professionals' who are thought to have checked out the showcase several times over the past few days.
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Four diamonds worth millions were reportedly stolen Wednesday from a diamond trader exhibiting at the BaselWorld watch and jewelry show in Basel, Switzerland, news outlets report.

A spokesman for the Basel prosecutor's office, Markus Melzl, issued a statement to the following effect: "On Wednesday, 30 March 2011, at around 11:00 am, one of the as yet still unidentified perpetrators distracted an employee of a diamond trader in the exhibition hall 3.0, and stole four diamonds worth millions from the display window."

The trader noticed the theft only about 15 minutes after the diamonds had been taken, and the hall was closed for half an hour. Nevertheless, the suspects apparently managed to leave the premises with the diamonds.

Melzl noted that the theft was "carried out in a very professional manner."

Police were examining security camera footage from the expo and search for possible DNA traces and fingerprints that the suspects might have left behind.

BaselWorld 2011, the largest event of its kind in Europe, opened on March 24 and runs through today. Over 1,800 exhibitors – including luxury watch manufacturers, diamond manufacturers, and diamond jewelry designers – are showing at this year's event.
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Art Hostage Comments:
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At the same venue last year thieves attempted to steal diamonds worth $10 million but were apprehended in the viewing hall before they could escape.
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On that occasion only one or two of thieves were caught, leaving the rest of the gang to return this year and be more successful on their escape.
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Oh, and the current value for the stolen four diamonds, $10 million.
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Take Your Pick

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=7377573
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http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_560266.html
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http://www.antwerpfacetsonline.be/nc/articles/single/article/india-jewellery-show-diamond-thieves-arrested-in-dubai/
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http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/111/article_3074.asp
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On the other hand you could always go Pink, as in Pink Panthers, with this remarkable insight by David Samuels: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/04/12/100412fa_fact_samuels

Stolen Art Watch, Art Theft Season 2011

Police in Bridgwater are appealing for information following the theft of antiques from a property in Bridgwater.

Sometime between 10.25am and 2.30pm on Monday March 28, unknown offenders have forced their way into a property in the Polden Hills area of Bridgwater and made off with antiques worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Police would now like to speak to anyone who may have been in the area and noticed anyone acting suspiciously or anyone who may have been offered items similar to those pictured.

Anyone who may have information is asked to call Bridgwater police on 0845 456 7000 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. We never ask your name or trace your call.


http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/LocalPages/NewsDetails.aspx?nsid=23081&t=1&lid=5

Stolen Art Watch, Picasso, Kuwait, Turkey, Here we go Again !!

Picasso's stolen canvas found in Turkey

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2011/03/28/picasso/
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A stolen canvas by world-famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso has been found and confiscated in Turkey, the Turkish newspaper Radikal reported. After a month of police operations in Balikesir town, the Turkish law enforcers arrested citizen Z G, 41, who held the canvas. The canvas worth $10 million was reportedly stolen from the Kuwait museum in 1991 during the Gulf War.
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Art Hostage Comments:
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This is the second/third Picasso, allegedly stolen from the Kuwait Museum to turn up. The first one was recovered in Iraq a couple of years ago and that supposedly turned out to be a fake.
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See Iraq Picasso story below:
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http://arthostage.blogspot.com/2009/08/stolen-art-watch-picasso-from-kuwait.html

Stolen Art Watch, Swans Take Flight !!

Art thieves stole two pictures by German modern artist Joseph Beuys from the art collection of Deutsche Bank, the police reported Saturday.

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20110326-33985.html

The robbery took place on February 9 at Deutsche Bank's headquarters in Frankfurt, but the bank only told the police this week, after internal investigations proved fruitless.

Bank spokesman Christian Streckert confirmed the robbery, but refused to add any further details.

Frankfurt police said the two water-colours, entitled "Swans" and painted in 1953, had an estimated value of €200,000. "Our investigations have so far had no results," a police spokesman said.

The Deutsche Bank's art collection was founded in the 1970s and now comprises over 56,000 works, mainly paintings and drawings, which are displayed all over the world.

Beuys, who died in 1986, is considered one of the most important German artists of the 20th century.

Stolen Art Watch, Graham Harkin, Firle Place Raid, Nine Years Jailtime !!

A West Yorkshire man has been sentenced to nine years imprisonment at Carlisle Crown Court today for being involved in a series of high profile thefts from Kendal, Sussex and Shrewsbury.

Graham Geoffrey Harkin, 57, of Chestnut Walk, Wakefield, West Yorkshire received three sentences today following a police investigation into the theft of the ancient timepieces from Cumbria last year.

The three sentences Harkin received are: Five years for handling stolen goods at Levens Hall, Kendal Nine years for burglary in Sussex Seven years for the burglary in Shrewsbury These three sentences, totalling 21 years, are to run concurrently.

Burglar jailed for mansion raids found with £200,000 clock

http://www.24dash.com/news/communities/2011-03-25-Burglar-jailed-for-mansion-raids-found-with-200-000-clock

A country house burglar who took porcelain worth £1 million in one raid and was found with a £200,000 clock taken in another was jailed for nine years today.

Career criminal Graham Harkin tried to claim a £25,000 reward for returning a Thomas Tompion clock stolen from Levens Hall, near Kendal, Cumbria and thought he was dealing with an agent of its real owner.

But the exchange at Birch Services on the M62 was with a police officer, and when he was arrested officers found the clock - more than 300 years old - in the boot of his BMW.

It had been stolen in September 2009 by an intruder who used a ladder to smash a window.

Detectives from Cumbria Police liaised with other forces and linked Harkin's mobile phone with other high value thefts elsewhere.

This week at Carlisle Crown Court he admitted burgling Firle Place, near Lewes, Sussex, where 18th century Sevres porcelain worth more than £1 million was stolen in a night break-in.

The country house has been in Lord Gage's family for more than 500 years and is also used as judges' lodgings when they are sitting at Lewes Crown Court.

Detectives also placed Harkin at a break-in at Longnor Hall, Shropshire, partly because of the thief's lack of sophistication.

The court heard he used the pseudonym Graham Parkin and his real postcode when he signed in during a visit to the country house, which the prosecution said was his chance to "case the joint".

Harkin's mobile phone - used in dealings over claiming the reward for the ebony clock - was traced to both Firle Place and Longnor Hall around the times of the break-ins.

He was a National Trust member and would visit country houses to look for weaknesses in security, the court heard.

Harkin, a 58-year-old grandfather, from Chestnut Walk, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, looked shaken when he was jailed for nine years.

He admitted two counts of burglary in relation to the Sussex and Shropshire break-ins and one count of handling the clock.

Judge Peter Hughes said: "That superb collection of Sevres porcelain is now lost.

"Over £1 million worth of delicate items passed down through succeeding generations now totally unaccounted for.

"A collection which is unlikely ever to be put back together again.

"Harkin, you have chosen not to say what happened to that porcelain."

Gary Swindell, also 58, of Cunliff Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, was jailed for three years for handling porcelain stolen from Longnor Hall.

He was caught at a car boot sale selling some of the Shropshire items stolen by his associate.

Police managed to stop some porcelain - sold on eBay in good faith by genuine antiques dealers - from being sent to China.

After the sentencing, Senior Crown Prosecutor Peter Kelly, from CPS Cumbria, said: "Graham Harkin was hoping to make significant profit for himself by targeting valuable items that were on show to the public in country houses. However, he was caught out in the end by his own greed when he tried to claim the reward for one of the antiques.

"The prosecution estimates that, in only a matter of a few weeks, Graham Harkin dealt with well over £1 million worth of stolen antiques.

"Antique thefts such as these often result in items of significant historical interest being lost to public view forever and his convictions and sentence send a clear message that police and prosecutors will take these offences seriously."

CCTV footage below showing Graham Harkin staking out the grounds of Firle
Place

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xwp_Vvo61Y
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Stolen Art Watch, Graham Harkin Trial, March 21st 2011

Daily List for Monday 21 March 2011 at CARLISLE Crown Court http://www.courtserve2.net/courtlists/current/crown/carli_T110321.01.htm

Court 2 - sitting at 10:30 am HIS HONOUR JUDGE PETER HUGHES QC

For Trial

T20100259 HARKIN Graham G 03ZA0156010

T20100471 HARKIN Graham G 47EE3009810

T20100519 HARKIN Graham G 22FA4502410

T20110043 SWINDELL Gary 13GA1144310

Stolen Art Watch, Brighton Knocker Boys, Like Hitting Corks in a Barrel of Water !!

Warning over Camden dodgy antiques dealers

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/warning_over_camden_dodgy_antiques_dealers_1_833664?action=login

DODGY antique dealers who try to trick often vulnerable victims into selling precious heirlooms are targeting Hampstead and Belsize Park.

The crooks, known as ‘Brighton knocker boys’, cold call their victims and persuade them to let them into their homes so they can check out valuable items.

They then convince their unwitting customers to sell on their goods for a fraction of their actual value.

Brighton has been blighted by this practice for decades and in 2006 an aristocrat who lived in the seaside town, the Earl of Lauderdale, was conned out of possessions worth £680,000. Now the con artists appear to have moved on to north London.

Residents in the Frognal and Fitzjohns ward in Hampstead have been receiving hand-delivered personally addressed letters to their homes.

The senders of the notes are offering to visit their properties to look at antiques, paintings and books with the view to buying unwanted items for cash.

But Frognal and Fitzjohns Safer Neighbourhood Team has warned homeowners that these letters are likely to be a scam.

In an email sent out to residents, the local SNT officers warned: “This is known to be used as a ploy to distract your attention, gain entry to your home and steal from within.

“Another scenario is that they may view your cherished antiques and come back in the future as burglars. Whilst we don’t mean to alarm, some of these companies are genuine but some are not.”

In the case that residents do decide to take up the offer made in the letters, the SNT police advised them to have someone with them during any appointment and not to leave their visitor alone in their home at any time.

It is also suspected that ‘knocker boys’ could be working in Belsize Park.

Sgt Ian Gilks, from Belsize SNT, said that he had been tipped off about the swindle by officers from Hampstead.

He said: “If you have any concerns which Belsize SNT may be able to help with please don’t hesitate to contact us,” he said.

PC Martin Betts, from Frognal and Fitzjohns SNT, said: “This happens in all the wealthy areas of London. The vulnerable and elderly are targeted.

“In this area we’ve managed to get in before they carry out their crimes. The companies who are operating are very well known to police.

“If any elderly people are approached they should contact their local SNT or the police and we’ll do some checks for them.”

Stolen Art Watch, Mears Brothers Jailed For Lapland Trickery

Notorious Brighton Antiques Knocker Boy's Victor and Henry Mears today were sentenced to 13 months jail time for the Lapland debacle.

This means they will be eligible for release after 14 weeks under Home Detention Curfew.

However, an appeal is likely to succeed not least because of the juror who was texting her boyfriend during the trial.

Stolen Art Watch, Brighton Antiques Knocker Jailed and Banned From Knocking Doors !!

Brighton Antiques Knockers, They Haven't Gone Away You Know !!!

Kevin Douglas, (Dob: 07-03-1957) of Shirley Drive, Hove.

On Monday 15th December 2009 Brighton Antiques Knocker Kevin Douglas cold called the home of an elderly couple, a 76 year old female and her 84 year old husband along St Peter's Square, Hammersmith.

He claimed that he was looking to buy old books and was invited in. Once inside Kevin Douglas took advantage of the age of his victims and without invitation, proceeded to walk into several private areas, including the victim's bedrooms.

He then rummaged through their personal possessions and managed to steal two sentimental antique watches that have not been recovered.

After a trial Kevin Douglas, 54 years (Dob 07-03-1957) of Shirley Drive, Hove, East Sussex was convicted on Monday 21st February at Kingston Crown Court and remanded in custody.

On Tuesday March 15th 2011 Kevin Douglas was sentenced to three and a half years jailtime at Kingston Crown Court following a distraction burglary in Hammersmith. He was given an ASBO to run indefinitely and ordered to pay compensation costs of £100 to his elderly victims.

Douglas will not be allowed to enter any private dwelling unless belonging to family or friends without prior written permission from the owner.

Furthermore if any sale takes place, Douglas is to provide the vendor with a receipt and retain an exact copy of the receipt for 5 years from date of issue.

Detective Sergeant Paul Mitchell, of the Metropolitan Police’s burglary squad at Hammersmith Police Station, said: "This is a satisfying conclusion to what was a particularly nasty crime perpetrated against a thoroughly decent, elderly couple.

“Kevin Douglas deliberately targeted what he thought would be easy prey and his actions were despicable.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the victims of this crime who have showed dignity, courage and patience in a protracted case that saw them giving evidence over two years after the offence was committed".

Police advise people not to let cold callers into their homes and check their identities if they are from a company.

DS Mitchell said: “If you have antiques to sell go to a reputable dealer and don't run the risk of being duped by unscrupulous individuals like Mr Douglas.”

Tricked out of £40,000

A VULNERABLE 85-year-old woman was talked into selling a £40,000 family heirloom for just £600 to a door-knocking antiques dealer.
And now the family of the Comberton pensioner have taken the dealer to court over the sale and won back both the furniture and £10,000 court costs.
The dealer bought the 18th Century table along with two chairs and some antique porcelain from Lady Janetta Huntingfield after visiting her home.
After finding out about the sale, the family - who once occupied a mansion estate in Suffolk - served a writ against Brighton antiques dealer Kevin Douglas, claiming the sale was an "unconscionable purchase".
The items have now been returned and a civil court has agreed that Mr Douglas will pay the family's court costs.
Lady Huntingfield has a bad memory and the family were unable to track down the dealer, so they put an advert in an antiques journal. They soon got a call from an auction house in Sussex saying the table was coming up in a sale.
After finding the dealer they found he had sold the chairs and he was forced to buy them back so they could be taken to Christie's in London for safekeeping while the case was decided by the courts.
Lady Huntingfield's son, Lord Joshua Huntingfield, told the News: "Some people knocked on my mother's door saying, 'Would you like to sell some books?' and she let them in on that basis. The next thing she found she was selling the furniture but she should never have let them in.
"He paid in cash without a receipt so there was no way we could find out who he was. The furniture was not hers to sell and it was a great shock."
Police looked into the deal but the Crown Prosecution Service said it was unable to build a case against Mr Douglas and it was taken to a civil court.
Lord Huntingfield added: "Some old people are vulnerable to being pestered to sell their own possessions to complete strangers.
"I can't imagine a lot of old ladies finding £10,000 to try to get furniture back. There seems to be a gap in protecting old people from this sort of manipulation."
Kevin Douglas's solicitors said he had not tricked Lady Huntingfield and that she was fully aware of what she was doing.
Mr Douglas was unavailable for comment.

Read more: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/Tricked-out-of-40000.htm#ixzz2u4sUHN6S

Stolen Art Watch, Harry Winston Diamonds Down The Drain As Art Hostage Returns !!

Paris police find $25M in stolen jewels in sewer

French investigators from the elite BRB have found jewels valued at euro18 million ($25 million) hidden in a Paris rain sewer — part of the spectacular 2008 heist from luxury jeweler Harry Winston's Paris boutique.

Nineteen rings and three sets of earrings — one pair valued at euro14 million ($19.5 million)

— were dug up from a drain at a house in the working class Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, police said, confirming a report on Europe-1 radio.

The jewels were hidden in a plastic container set in a cement mold inside the sewer, police said. The house belonged to one of the nine people charged in the heist.

The bold Harry Winston robbery on Dec. 5, 2008, netted the thieves — some dressed as women and wearing wigs — gems and bejeweled watches worth up to euro85 million ($118.1 million), police said. More recently, police have set the figure at $85 million.

The Harry Winston boutique is on a street off Paris' famed Champs-Elysees Avenue dotted with fashion houses and fashionable cafes. The robbery, carried out while Christmas shoppers strolled outside, was among the most audacious in France in recent memory.

Some stolen rings, necklaces and watches were recovered when police rounded up 25 people in a June 2009 sweep and eventually charged nine of them.

Among those charged was the heist's suspected mastermind, Daoudi Yahiaoui, who had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in a drug trafficking case two months before the Harry Winston raid in December 2008, see story below:

Drug trafficker sentenced to 15 years

A drug kingpin charged with trafficking 1.65 tons of heroin from Turkey has been sentenced to 15 years in a Swiss prison.

Thursday October 30th 2008 Federal judge Jean-Luc Bacher handed down the highest penalty for drug trafficking in the history of the Federal Court to the 42-year-old Kosovar.

Prosecutors had accused him of playing a key role within a crime family that has supplied Western Europe with heroin since the mid-1990s.

The verdict on Thursday October 30th 2008 wraped up the largest trail for drug trafficking to unfold in Switzerland.

The man, who was not named in Swiss media, had posed as a car salesman. His 28-year-old brother, who worked as a car washer, faced a four-year prison term for money laundering. He received a two-year suspended sentence.

Police in Switzerland, Kosovo, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Slovenia and Hungary had seized the heroin shipments worth SFr25 million ($22 million).

French BRB Police found stolen jewelry and euro760,000 ($1.1 million) at the house of Daoudi Yahiaoui previously.

A guard at the Harry Winston boutique put police on the trail of the suspects. When investigators learned that an Israeli was expected in Paris to buy some of the stolen jewels, police moved in to make the arrests.

Doreen Carvajal, in the New York Times writes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/world/europe/10iht-paris10.html?src=twrhp

Don't know whether to laugh or cry at this story below:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030901010.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

Interesting to note the 500 Euro note is the preffered denomination of drug traffickers and criminals.

The Italian Job, below, as thieves steal £3million in gold:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1364578/Real-life-Italian-Job-Thieves-snatch-30million-gold-depot-rural-Tuscany.html

In other news, notorious Brighton Antiques Knocker Alan Roser was sentenced yesterday, March 8th 2011, to Five years in jail for sexual offences against children.

Stolen Art Watch, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Phil Silvers !!!

Hunt for haul of stolen silverware

Thieves stole a safe containing £25,000 worth of silverware from a church in Woodmangreen north of Midhurst.

The haul which includes 22 silver items including plates, dishes and goblets, were contained in a wall mounted safe in a small room inside St Luke's Church in Linch Road.

Detectives believed the theft could have happened anytime between Sunday 22 August from 11am to Friday 27 August at 2.30pm. It was only discovered that the safe was missing when the warden went to get the silverware out for the Sunday service and found it was missing.

Detective Constable Della Puttock said: "This was a large valuable haul of silverware which were stolen from a rural, unmanned church.

Men sentenced for Petworth ram raid burglary

Two men have been jailed for ram raiding a Petworth antiques shop during a burglary in January earlier this year.

Henry Philips, 34, of Camp Way Maidstone, Kent, and Stephen Oliver, 40, of Thanet Way, Whitstable, Kent, were both sentenced to 4 years 9 months at Chichester Crown Court on Friday 27 August, after pleading guilty at a previous hearing to burglary and aggravated vehicle taking. A third man, Clinton Letchford, 27 from Sittingbourne in Kent was also due to be sentenced, but failed to appear.

Members of the public called police after hearing a van crashing through the front doors of the antique shop and saw masked men entering the premises. The stolen Suzuki van was then seen driving off and was quickly located abandoned on the outskirts of Petworth, still containing goods stolen from the show room of Anthony Short Antiques, valued at approximately £30.000.

Police identified and quickly sighted a second getaway car leaving Sussex and heading into Surrey. A high speed pursuit took place as officers from Surrey attempted to stop the vehicle as it drove in excess of 145 mph along the M25 heading towards Kent where all three suspects lived. The second getaway car, a high performance Volvo, crashed in Chertsey, Surrey, where Letchford, Oliver and Phillips were arrested.

Detective Constable Jason Vickers said: "I would like to thank members of the public for their prompt action in immediately snitching to police at the time of the burglary and Surrey Police for their help in the arrests. CCTV in Petworth played a vital part in the investigation, capturing images of the offenders and getaway car the previous day when they were scoping antique shops in Petworth in preparation for the burglary. These men endangered lives and have suffered the consequences of their actions."