Stolen Art Watch, Leonardo Da Vinci Madonna, Scales of Justice !!!

Men accused of extortion over stolen Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece made no demands for money, court told
Mar 11 2010 By Brian Horne

MEN accused of holding a stolen art treasure to ransom made no demands for cash when it was handed over, a trial was told yesterday.

The High Court in Edinburgh watched secretly recorded video footage of a meeting in a Glasgow law office.

An undercover cop, posing as an art expert, confirmed that The Madonna Of The Yarnwinder - stolen four years earlier from the Duke of Buccleuch's Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire - was genuine.

The detective, known by his alias of David Restor, then began to pack the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece in a special case.

Police colleague John Craig, pretending to be an agent for the duke, left the room to make a telephone call to him.

But he was really triggering a police raid on the city centre offices of HBJ Gateley Wareing in West Regent Street, Glasgow, the court was told.

Yesterday, Craig, an alias to protect his identity, faced questions from defence QC Donald Findlay about the handover on October 4, 2007.

Mr Findlay pointed out that, although photos were being taken in the room, no one made any attempt to conceal their identity as the world-famous painting passed into the hands of the law.

He said: "Have we heard anybody saying, 'Hang on a minute, lads, what are you doing with the painting?

"We have not had confirmation we have had the money yet. You are not getting the painting until we get the money.'

"Have you heard anything like that?"

Mr Craig, speaking from behind a screen in the courtroom, replied: "Not to my knowledge."

He also confirmed that no attempt had been made to stop him or his colleague taking the picture.

Five men are accused of demanding £4.25million for the safe return of the masterpiece valued at £50million.

English lawyer Marshall Ronald, 53, Liverpudlians Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, and Scottish solicitors Calum Jones, 45, and David Boyce, 63, deny attempting to extort £4.25million from the duke and his late father for the return of the painting.

A second charge alleges that the five accused attempted to defeat the ends of justice by getting one of the undercover officers to sign an agreement that police would not be told about what was happening.

The trial continues.

Da Vinci accused was 'not in it for money'

A trial has heard that a man accused of being part of a conspiracy to extort £4.25m for a stolen painting, said he was not in it for the money or glory.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told that Robert Graham made the comment during a taped conversation with an undercover policeman.

He is one of five men facing charges relating to the Leonardo da Vinci work the Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

It was stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch's estate in Dumfries in 2003.

The court heard that Mr Graham, a 57-year-old Liverpool publican, met with undercover policeman John Craig at a London pub in 2007, believing him to be an agent of the Duke.

'Cloak and dagger'

The trial was told that Mr Graham was seeking assurances from Mr Craig before he went ahead with a plan to retrieve the stolen painting from unnamed intermediaries.

During their conversation, he told Mr Craig: "I don't feel I'm doing anything illegal or wrong. I can see it bothering me for the rest of my life if I don't do this."

Asked what would happen if police found him with the painting, Mr Craig referred to a contract and he told Mr Graham: "There's no cloak and dagger here, no last-minute surprises."

After the meeting, Mr Graham is heard to say that Mr Craig had convinced him he was "100% safe".

"He's working for the Duke and we're working for them. It's as simple as that," he said.

In court, defence QC Donald Findlay put it to Mr Craig, that he made all the running in talks with another accused, Marshall Ronald.

Painting's theft

Suggesting that the Duke was interested in buying back the painting and did not care if the police were involved or not, Mr Craig said he was only playing an agreed and authorised role.

On trial along with Mr Graham are Marshall Ronald, 53, and John Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, from Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, from Lanarkshire.

They have denied conspiring to extort £4.25m and an alternative charge of attempted extortion.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between July and October 2007.

They are not accused of the painting's theft.

The trial continues.

Stolen Art Watch, Leonardo Da Vinci Madonna Trial , Police Fox V Silver Fox !!!!

Da Vinci negotiations held in London pub

A TRIAL yesterday heard first hints about how a stolen art treasure surfaced more than four years after robbers took it from a Dumfriesshire stately home.

The details emerged at the first face- to-face meeting between an undercover detective, a solicitor who was helping negotiate the return of the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece and a Liverpool publican known as The Silver Fox.

The undercover detective, using the alias John Craig, said his boss would not allow him to wear a wire for the meeting in a London pub because of fears that he might be taken into the toilets and strip- searched.

Giving evidence at the High Court in Edinburgh Mr Craig told what he remembered of the meeting with Robert Graham, 57, a man he later described as "a loveable rogue".

Silver-haired Graham, together with solicitor Marshall Ronald, 53, and three other men are accused of demanding more than £4 million for the safe return of the painting.

Graham had come to the pub meeting on September 30, 2007, thinking he was meeting a representative of the Duke of Buccleuch, the painting’s owner. Graham appeared terrified that he might be arrested in connection with the stolen painting and wanted to meet Mr Craig to make sure he was not "the chief of police."

Mr Craig said yesterday that he and Graham swapped "personal details". He added: "He was the owner of a number of pubs in the Merseyside area and his nick-name was The Silver Fox.

"Through his background and ownership of these pubs he learned a lot about what was going on in criminal circles. He found out about this painting and that he could retrieve this painting."

The court heard that Graham also brought to the meetings press clippings of himself and associate John Doyle, 61, about their crime-fighting organisation, Stolen Stuff Reunited.

The internet-based company had returned a stolen sword to "the family of a military man".

It had then gone bust, after Graham, who had also worked as a private investigator, had sunk £30,000 into the venture.

Mr Craig said: "Robert Graham told me everything he was doing he was doing out of a sense of decency."

The court heard that to back his own pretence that he was a former insurance expert now working for the Ministry of Culture in Madrid, Mr Craig had arranged a call to his mobile phone – so that he could speak in Spanish.

After the meeting, the trial heard, phone calls between Ronald and Mr Craig continued in an attempt to arrange the handover of the painting.

The picture Madonna of the Yarnwinder was snatched from the wall of Drumlanrig Castle on the Duke of Buccleuch’s Dumfriesshire estate in August 2004. by raiders posing as tourists who then over-powered a tour guide and produced an axe.

The painting - then insured for fifteen million pounds - was recovered when police stormed a meeting in the Glasgow offices of law firm HBJ Gateley Wareing in October, 2007.

On trial are solicitor Marshall Ronald, 53, of 15A Highmeadow, Ravenscroft, Upholland, Skelmersdale; Robert Graham, 57, of Gawhill Lane, Aughton, and John Doyle, 61, of Halsall, both Lancashire; solicitor Calum Jones, 45, Knockbuckle Road, Kilmacolm, and solicitor David Boyce, 63, of Airdrie.

They deny conspiring to extort £4,250,000 or, alternatively, attempting to extort the money.

A second charge alleges that the five accused attempted to defeat the ends of justice.

Officer tells of stolen da Vinci role

By John Robertson
A LAWYER wanted to discuss other works of art after he had helped in the recovery of a stolen £20 million painting, a court has heard.

Marshall Ronald, 53, a solicitor from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, allegedly had negotiated a personal payment of more than £2 million and another £2m to be shared by him and four associates for returning Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

The deal had been agreed with "John Craig", a man who posed as a representative of the Duke of Buccleuch, from whom the painting had been stolen, but who was an undercover policeman, the High Court in Edinburgh has heard.

Ronald attended a meeting in the offices of Glasgow law firm HBJ Gateley Wareing, when the painting was produced to "John Craig" and a colleague pretending to be an art expert to verify it.

Giving evidence while the public was screened from seeing him, "John Craig" said that, as part of his pretence, he made a phone call to have money released into bank accounts for which Ronald had supplied the details.

He said: "Marshall Ronald wanted a conversation about other artworks, a Van Gogh and a Rembrandt."

A short time later, the police arrived, seized the painting and detained everyone in the room, including the two officers.

The trial continues.

Stolen Art Watch, Leonardo Da Vinci Madonna, Loveable Lamb, Slaughtered !!!

Leonardo Da Vinci accused was 'loveable rogue'

An undercover policeman has told a court about his first contacts with the men accused of trying to extort £4.25m for the return of a Leonardo artwork.

The officer met Liverpool publican Robert Graham - known as the Silver Fox - in a pub at London's Euston Station.

He described the accused as a "loveable rogue" who claimed he was acting out of a "sense of decency".

Mr Graham and four others deny trying to extort money for the safe return of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

The masterpiece was stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch's Dumfriesshire estate in 2003.

An undercover officer, known by the alias John Craig, was giving evidence at the High Court in Edinburgh about the first indications the artwork had resurfaced four years later.

He told the trial that Mr Graham had come to a pub meeting in September 2007 thinking he was meeting a representative of the duke.

Mr Craig said he appeared terrified that he might be arrested in connection with the stolen painting and wanted to meet him to make sure he was not "the chief of police".

Mr Craig said that he and Mr Graham swapped "personal details".

"He was the owner of a number of pubs in the Merseyside area and his nickname was the Silver Fox," he said.

"Through his background and ownership of these pubs he learned a lot about what was going on in criminal circles.

"He found out about this painting and that he could retrieve this painting."

The court heard that Mr Graham also brought to the meetings press clippings of himself and associate John Doyle and their crime-fighting organisation, Stolen Stuff Reunited.

Private investigator

The internet-based company had successfully returned a stolen sword to "the family of a military man", which was the story in the newspaper clippings.

The firm went bust after Mr Graham, who had also worked as a private investigator, had sunk £30,000 into the venture.

On trial along with 57-year-old Mr Graham are Marshall Ronald, 53, and John Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, from Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, from Lanarkshire.

They have denied conspiring to extort £4.25m and an alternative charge of attempted extortion.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between July and October 2007.

They are not accused of the painting's theft.

The trial continues.

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Madonna , Lamb's to the Slaughter !!!

Da Vinci was recovered via 'Stolen Stuff Reunited', court is told

Published Date: 09 March 2010
By John Robertson

A £20 MILLION work of art taken from a castle by "gypsies" resurfaced four years later through a business called Stolen Stuff Reunited, a court has heard.
After the theft, the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece Madonna of the Yarnwinder had been used in a "dodgy" property deal and the people who had accepted it as security wanted to recoup their money, a jury was told yesterday.

They approached private i nvestigators who ran a company which "repatriated" property to its rightful owners. One contact led to another, and eventually the painting was delivered to a lawyer's office in Glasgow after a covert police operation.

Tapes of calls between an undercover officer and a solicitor as they haggled over a price for the return of the painting were played at the High Court in Edinburgh. The officer's opening gambit of £1.5 million was met with a flat response, he told the court.

"There was no excitement or energy in his voice," said the man, known as "John Craig". The lawyer, he added, then demanded £2m for himself and £2m for others.

The trial has heard that Madonna of the Yarnwinder was stolen in 2003 from the Duke of Buccleuch's Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway.

In August 2007, Marshall Ronald, 53, a solicitor, of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, contacted an insurance loss adjuster, saying he acted for clients who could assist in the painting's return. He was put in touch with "John Craig", an undercover officer he believed to be working for the duke.

The officer said Ronald had told him that some years ago he helped set up a company, Stolen Stuff Reunited, for two "Liverpool lads" who also did private investigation work. They had been approached by clients who had said they had the painting.

"It had been stolen by members of the gypsy or travelling community and had not left Glasgow," the witness said, summarising his first telephone call with Ronald.

"It had been used as collateral in a dodgy £700,000 real estate deal that went wrong."

The officer said he had a series of subsequent phone conversations with Ronald, who had spoken of needing £700,000 for the "first parties" and then "overage", a sum to be shared by five others, including himself.

Mention had been made of £1.5m but Ronald's reaction had been flat. He had stated: "I think they are expecting a bit more."

The figure was increased to £2m, and Ronald then had brought up "legal costs" for the first time. He asked for £2m for himself, which was to be kept secret from the others.

"I have given a stern reality check to the intermediaries and persuaded them to accept the sum (£2m) offered in our last discussion," Ronald had written in an e-mail to "John".

Talking of his own expenses, he had added: "I have delved into a frightening world of smoke and mirrors and had to challenge some heavyweight individuals whose motivations are very questionable. I have been dealing with very volatile people.

"The painting is in the possession of an individual who has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect his or her identity."

Ronald and four others deny conspiring to extort £4.25 million from the duke and the insurer, Hiscox UK, for the safe return of the painting.

The trial continues.

Lawyer 'haggled over price' of Da Vinci stolen from Scots stately home, court told

Mar 9 2010

A LAWYER and an undercover cop haggled about the price of returning an art treasure to a Scottish stately home, a court heard yesterday.

Solicitor Marshall Ronald spoke about clients who had a business called Stolen Stuff Reunited.

Phone conversations between Ronald and a man who used the alias John Craig were played to a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna Of The Yarnwinder was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire, in August 2003.

The painting, then insured for £15million, had been stolen to order as collateral in a "dodgy real estate deal".

Craig gave evidence from behind a screen. In the phone calls, Craig claimed to be someone helping the family to get the painting back.

The artwork was eventually seized by police during a raid on the offices of Glasgow law firm HBJ Gateley Wareing on October 4, 2007.

Ronald, 53, of Upholland, Skelmersdale; Robert Graham, 57, of Ormskirk; and John Doyle, 61, of Ormskirk, all Lancashire; solicitor Calum Jones, 45, of Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, and solicitor David Boyce, 63, of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, deny conspiring to extort £4.25million or, alternatively, attempting to extort the money.

The trial continues.

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Madonna, Week Two !!!!

Da Vinci artwork return 'starting figure' heard

The Leonardo da Vinci extortion trial has heard one of the accused say that the starting figure for the Madonna of the Yarnwinder's return was £700,000.

Marshall Ronald told a man he believed represented the Duke of Buccleuch that five people wanted a 20% share of any additional payment to bring it back.

Mr Ronald is one of five men accused of conspiring to extort £4.25m for the safe return of the painting.

All of them deny the charges they face at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The court was played a taped phone call between Mr Ronald and a man calling himself John Craig.

He was an undercover police officer pretending to be working directly for the Duke of Buccleuch.

The painting was taken in a raid on the duke's Dumfriesshire estate in 2003.

Mr Ronald said he had been told the artwork had been stolen by gypsies and at some point was put up as security for a £700,000 loan for a real estate deal which collapsed.

'Professional fees'

He said it would cost that amount to get possession of the painting and five people were to split between them any money paid out on top of that.

There would also be "professional fees".

Mr Ronald - who is a lawyer in Lancashire - said he was working with two Scottish solicitors, David Boyce and Calum Jones, because he "wanted to do things properly, with integrity".

Mr Craig told him that the duke was interested in what he called a "buyback" and he would be advising the family to "go for this".

On trial along with 53-year-old Mr Ronald are Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, from Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, from Lanarkshire.

They have denied conspiring to extort £4.25m and an alternative charge of attempted extortion.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between July and October 2007.

They are not accused of the painting's theft.

The trial continues.

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Madonna, Go, Go, Go !!!!

Jury sees dramatic moment da Vinci recovered

DRAMATIC video footage of detectives gatecrashing a meeting in a law firm's offices and recovering a stolen work of art was shown to a jury yesterday.
Two men detained in the raid had minutes earlier been filmed smiling and shaking hands over the £20 million Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, Madonna of the Yarnwinder, right, which had been missing for four years.

In the surprise and confusion that followed the police moving in, one of the pair was seen to remain in his seat, eating a biscuit and supping from a cup.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told that the raid at the offices of HBJ Gateley Wareing in West Regent Street, Glasgow, on 4 October, 2007, had been the finale of a weeks-long undercover police operation.

That was sparked by a letter from solicitor Marshall Ronald, 53, from Lancashire, to an insurance loss adjuster. He said he was acting for clients who could assist in the "safe repatriation" of the painting stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch's Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire, in 2003.

The loss adjuster contacted the police and officers using the names "John Craig" and "David Restor" posed as the duke's representative and an expert.

The public area of the court was screened off as "David" gave evidence. He said he contacted Ronald by phone. A recording of the call was played to the jury.

Ronald said: "I do feel I can help sort this out and I am genuinely trying to do so. I am anxious to physically get control of this now but I don't want us to fall into the trap of handling stolen goods.

"Do you see the dilemma? I'm trying to do it properly. I'm dealing with rather volatile individuals.

"If they do not care about this, I do. I recognise the value of this classic piece of art. The faster I get it safely back the better, from my point of view."

The officer asked why Ronald did not go to the police, and he replied: "I don't think it would be helpful. I think if I go down that route, the clients will do something very silly."

He added that he was only a sole practitioner who had come across the situation by chance, and he had gone to Scottish solicitors of some standing for credibility.

"David" told the jury a meeting was arranged in Glasgow at which the painting was to be produced for examination. He and "John Craig" arrived by taxi and were met at reception by Calum Jones, 45, a solicitor. As they waited for the lift, Jones told them Ronald had said "the lady was close by".

Jones took the men to a boardroom and left them. "John Craig" made calls on a mobile phone while "David" set up equipment on the table. He placed a digital video camera among the equipment, and it began recording.

Jones returned to the room with Ronald and two other men, Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61. Doyle was carrying a black folio case. The painting was taken from it and "David" examined it. He said he was "absolutely confident" it was the Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

Then "John Craig" left the room for a short time. "David" said: "A little time after that, the door opened and police officers entered and introduced themselves as having a warrant. Officers were assigned to everybody in the room. There was a large number of police officers."

Even "David" and "John Craig" were detained, along with Ronald, Jones, Graham and Doyle.

The advocate-depute, Simon Di Rollo, QC, then asked for footage from the video camera to be played to the jury.

Ronald, Graham and Doyle, all from Lancashire; Jones, from Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire; and David Boyce, 63, a solicitor, from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, deny conspiring to extort £4.25 million from the duke and the insurer, Hiscox UK, for the safe return of the painting.

The trial resumes next week.

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Madonna Undercover Cop David Rester !!

Da Vinci painting accused "warned against" police involvement
http://news.scotsman.com/news/Da-Vinci-painting-accused-34warned.6128587.jp

Published Date: 05 March 2010
By DAVID GUNN
A lawyer said to have offered to assist in the recovery of a stolen Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece said his clients would "do something very silly" if police were contacted, a court heard today.

Marshall Ronald said he was dealing with "volatile individuals" and such a move would not be helpful, jurors were told.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the statements were made in a telephone conversation with an undercover officer posing as an art restorer after a police operation to trace the £20 million Madonna Of The Yarnwinder swung into force.

The trial also heard that Ronald, one of five men accused of holding the artwork to ransom for £4.25 million, said he did not want to "fall into the trap of handling stolen goods".

The painting was snatched by armed raiders from Drumlanrig Castle, the Dumfries-shire estate of the Duke of Buccleuch, in August 2003.

The court has heard how an undercover police operation got under way in the summer of 2007 after an expert on recovering missing art received a "deceptive" letter from the accused solicitor, Ronald.

Jurors heard that the correspondence, sent in an email to loss adjuster Mark Dalrymple, stated that he had been instructed to act for clients who could assist in the recovery of the painting.

It added: "Our concern is to negotiate the safe repatriation of the painting and negotiate the reward/finder's fee on behalf of our clients."

Today, the trial heard from one of the officers involved, who gave his evidence under the false name "David Restor". He was also screened off from the public benches.

The jury of nine women and six men was played a recording of a telephone conversation said to be between him and Ronald on August 14 2007.

The two men could be heard discussing the issues raised in the letter and how it could be established that the painting being talked about was genuine.

During the conversation, jurors heard that Ronald said: "I'm dealing with people who can sometimes be a bit volatile.

"I'm anxious to physically get control of this now... but I don't want to fall into the trap of handling stolen goods."

He added later: "I'm dealing with rather volatile individuals. They don't care about this, I do. I recognise the value of this classic piece of art."

Ronald said he had now raised his head "above the parapet" and had contacted Mr Dalrymple because he was trying to do things "properly", jurors heard.

When asked if he would contact police, he replied: "I don't think it would be helpful if I went down that road. The clients would do something very silly."

Ronald, 53, of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, both of Ormskirk, Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, a solicitor, from Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, a solicitor, from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, deny conspiring to extort £4.25 million from the Duke and the painting's insurers.

They are not accused of the robbery.

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Madonna, Dalrymple Day, Update !!!!

Undercover police's Leonardo da Vinci ruse outlined

A trial has heard about a ruse which put undercover police on the trail of a stolen Leonardo da Vinci painting.

An expert on recovering stolen art has been giving evidence in the case of five men accused of holding the masterpiece to ransom for £4.25m.

Loss adjuster Mark Dalrymple told a court how a plan swung into operation after he received a "deceptive" letter.

All five men deny attempting to extort money for the safe return of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told about a note from a law firm in the north of England seeking to negotiate a reward for its clients in helping to "repatriate" the painting.

It was e-mailed to Mr Dalrymple four years after the artwork was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle on the Duke of Buccleuch's Dumfriesshire estate.

His reaction was to telephone Det Insp Gary Coupland, who was then leading the hunt for the robbers.

"I think the police felt it was more likely to enable them to progress their investigation if the insurers and myself were to be neatly taken out of the equation," said Mr Dalrymple.

He said the plan was that an undercover officer, using the pseudonym John Craig, would make contact with solicitor Marshall Ronald, one of the men now on trial.

"We had already agreed if there were any future or further inquiry there would be a ruse," he added.

The story was to be that Mr Dalrymple had fallen out with Mr Craig. Mr Craig had quit his job but might still get involved.

"If he (Ronald) wanted to pursue the matter he should contact Mr Craig directly, who was acting for the Duke of Buccleuch," he said.

Mr Dalrymple admitted he was "perplexed" that solicitors should think there was a legal way to repatriate the painting.

He said the practice was for a reward to be offered for the safe return of such a treasure but only after police had approved the deal to ensure that no money was being paid to criminals.

Comparable thefts

He said no figure was ever put on how much might be paid for the Madonna of the Yardwinder but revealed in court it would be of the order of £50,000 to £100,000.

Mr Dalrymple said that during his years as a loss adjuster there had been only half a dozen art thefts comparable to the Drumlanrig Castle robbery.

He had been involved in securing the return of Turner works stolen from an art gallery in Frankfurt, Germany and a Titian taken from the Marquis of Bath.

On trial are Marshall Ronald, 53, Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, from Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, from Lanarkshire. They are not accused of the robbery.

They have denied conspiring to extort £4.25m and an alternative charge of attempted extortion.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between July and October 2007.

The trial continues.

From The TimesMarch 4, 2010
Leonardo detectives set up ‘sting’ after tip off from insurance adviser
Scotland Staff

(PA)The Leonardo da Vinci painting, Madonna of the Yarnwinder, stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in 2003Detectives investigating the theft of a Leonardo da Vinci painting from the Duke of Buccleuch set up a “sting” operation, after being contacted by a senior insurance adviser.
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Chartered loss adjuster Mark Dalrymple, told police he had received a letter seeking to negotiate a reward for the safe return of the stolen artwork, the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, a court was told today. Mr Dalrymple, told the High Court in Edinburgh that he had found the letter “deceptive” and decided to contact the police.
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The “strictly private and confidential” letter, said to have come from one of the accused, Marshall Ronald, stated that he, Mr Ronald, was part of a team that could negotiate the “safe and speedy” return of the artwork through “informal mediation”.
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Mr Dalrymple told the court that Mr Ronald said, in a subsequent phone conversation, that he felt things were “too complicated” for him to go to the police.
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Jurors have heard how the painting was stolen by raiders from Drumlanrig Castle, the Dumfries-shire estate of the Buccleuch family, in August 2003.
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Five men are on trial in Edinburgh, where they deny trying to extort £4.25 million for the painting’s return in 2007. They are not charged with the robbery.
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In the dock are Marshall Ronald, 53, a solicitor from Skelmersdale, Lancashire; Robert Graham, 57, of Ormskirk, Lancashire and John Doyle, 61, also of Ormskirk. Also on trial are two Scottish solicitors, Calum Jones, 45, from Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire; and David Boyce, 63, from Airdrie in Lanarkshire.
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The fourth day of the trial heard how Mr Dalrymple, the proprietor of loss adjusters Tyler & Company in London, worked in conjunction with the painting’s insurers, Hiscox, after the robbery.
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The court heard that he received a letter, sent by e-mail in August 2007, said to be from Mr Ronald.
In it, he stated that he was acting for clients and said: “We make it plain from the outset that we do not act for the thieves and have no knowledge as to the identity of the original thieves.”
It added: “Our concern is to negotiate the safe repatriation of the painting and negotiate the reward/finder’s fee on behalf of our clients.”
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Mr Dalrymple, 57, told the nine women and six men of the jury that he found the letter had a “deceptive” flavour.
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He said: “It did not seem to me to be a letter inviting amicable discussion. It seemed to be negotiating with regard to an item stolen.
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“Well, we don’t negotiate. It’s stolen and, therefore, it should simply be given back to the owner. It was well-known, famous enough for that to occur.”
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Mr Dalrymple contacted police and an undercover operation was mounted, the court was told.
The witness said he spoke to Mr Ronald on the phone shortly after receiving the letter.
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He said he asked Mr Ronald why he did not go straight to police to recover the painting to them.
“The answer was that Mr Ronald felt it was too complicated to do,” said Mr Dalrymple.
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The witness said he got the sense that those involved “felt there was a legal way to repatriate it”.
The case continues.
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Update:

The Leonardo da Vinci extortion trial has been played a taped phone call between one of the accused and a man he believed to be an art restorer.

Lancashire-based lawyer Marshall Ronald said he thought he could get back the stolen Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

However, he added that he was dealing with "volatile people, who could do something "very silly".

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Daily !!

Leonardo da Vinci raid 'deeply upset' duke

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8547458.stm

A duke was "deeply upset" by the theft of a Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece and the lack of progress in recovering it, his son has told a court.

The Madonna of the Yarnwinder was said to have played a "very special part" in the life of the late Duke of Buccleuch.

His son, the current duke, said it was a "huge relief" when the artwork was eventually recovered undamaged.

Five men are on trial accused of trying to extort £4.25m for its return. They are not charged with the robbery.

The painting was taken from Drumlanrig Castle, north of Dumfries, in August 2003.

Richard Montagu Douglas Scott, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch, said his family had had to contemplate that the artwork - valued at £20m in 2008 - might have been destroyed.

He was giving evidence on the third day of the trial of five men accused of plotting to extort £4.25m for the safe return of the piece.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that his father, John, died on 4 September 2007, a month before the painting was recovered.

'Emotionally important'

He agreed with prosecutor Simon Di Rollo that his father had been "particularly fond" of the painting.

He said: "It was hugely emotionally important for all of us in the family, but I think for my father in particular, who felt most keenly its loss.

"It was clear to anyone who knew him that he was deeply upset by the loss and by the lack of any progress in recovering the painting."
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Before any evidence on Wednesday, the jury was taken to view the painting at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, where it is being exhibited.

Gallery director Christopher Clarke, 57, told the court he was called upon to identify the painting at a police station in October 2007 after its recovery.

The trial also heard from Martin Kemp, emeritus professor of art history at Oxford University, who reckoned there are no more than 20 artworks by Leonardo in existence.

The trial heard that the painting was conservatively valued by Christie's in 2008 at £15m to £20m, and again in 2009 at £30m-£50m before it went on temporary display at the gallery.. John Knight, a Christie's director specialising in old masters, said very few Leonardos had been sold openly. The last, a drawing of a horse and rider, sold for £8m in 2001.

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On trial are Marshall Ronald, 53, Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, from Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, from Lanarkshire.

They have denied conspiring to extort £4.25m and an alternative charge of attempted extortion.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between July and October 2007.

The trial continues.

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Madonna, Breaking News !!!!!!

Painting plot accused 'wanted to negotiate recovery'

Published Date: 02 March 2010

A solicitor from Lancashire accused of being part of a £4.25 million extortion plot said he wanted to negotiate a reward for clients who could help with the recovery of a stolen Leonardo da Vinci artwork, a court heard.

Marshall Ronald from Skelmersdale wrote that he was part of a team that could negotiate the "safe and speedy" return of the precious artwork through "informal mediation".

The High Court in Edinburgh heard the letter, sent in an email in August 2007, was composed around 10 days after he and two other solicitors discussed the legality of trying to secure a reward for the return of the stolen Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

The court heard suggestions from Mr Ronald's defence counsel that there was nothing covert, secret or underhand about the letter.

The details emerged on the second day of the trial of five men accused of plotting in 2007 to extort £4.25 million for the safe return of the painting.

The masterpiece was stolen four years earlier, in August 2003, from Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire.

In the dock are: Marshall Ronald, 53, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire; Robert Graham, 57, of Ormskirk, Lancashire, and John Doyle, 61, also of Ormskirk.

Also on trial are two Scottish solicitors, Calum Jones, 45, from Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire; and David Boyce, 63, from Airdrie in Lanarkshire. They deny the charges against them. They are not accused of the robbery.

The court was played a tape recording of a meeting said to have involved the five accused at the Glasgow offices of Boyds solicitors on July 30 2007.

Jurors heard how Mr Ronald said an "approach" had been made about the painting and that there was a conversation about the legality of trying to secure a reward for the return of the artwork. He wrote that the clients could bring about the safe delivery of the painting within 72 hours and he sought a "without prejudice" meeting with the loss adjuster.

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Madonna Trial, Day 2

Da Vinci Madonna, Gardener's Account

A court has heard how a gardener ran to challenge raiders making off with a masterpiece from a Scottish castle.

John Chrystie, 50, was weeding in the grounds of the Drumlanrig estate when he saw three men with Leonardo da Vinci's the Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

He set off after them until one of them produced a small axe to scare him off.

Five men are on trial in Edinburgh accused of trying to extort £4.25m for the painting's return. They are not charged with the 2003 robbery.

Mr Chrystie, who had worked for the Duke of Buccleuch in south west Scotland for 20 years, said he heard "banging and then alarm bells" on the day of the raid.

He told the High Court in Edinburgh he then saw a man wearing a white sombrero-type hat carrying something square.

The gardener said that from the colours he recognised it as the Leonardo da Vinci painting.

"When I realised what was happening I was going to have a go at one of them and he pulled an axe from his jacket, a small hand axe," he said.

"I veered off and just ran up the banking."

Taped recording

The jury at the trial has also been hearing a taped recording of a meeting involving the defendants in the extortion case.

It took place at Glasgow law offices where two of them were solicitors.

Prosecutors are presenting it as evidence of a conspiracy to extort £4.25m for the safe return of the stolen painting.

Marshall Ronald, 53, Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, from Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, from Lanarkshire, deny the charges against them.

They pled not guilty to conspiring to extort £4.25m and an alternative charge of attempted extortion.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between July and October 2007.

The trial, before Lady Dorrian, continues.

Art Hostage Comments:

This is what will happen to anyone, I repeat anyone, who tries to either pass information, or hand back any stolen art, unless of course you are ex-police officers like Mick Lawrence and Jurek Rokoszynski (Rocky) who recovered the stolen Turners and were paid £500,000 of the £3.5 million paid to Edgar Liebrucks the German Lawyer, who in turn paid Stevo V the original organiser of the Turner theft.
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Turners article here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1502283/How-Tate-laid-money-trail-to-recover-Turners.html
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Another high profile stolen art recovery was the Titian stolen from Longleat House, home of the Marquis of Bath.
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Charlie Hill, yes you've guessed it, another ex-police officer, paid David Dudden £15,000 deposit, which Charlie Hill obtained from the Marquis of Bath, then the Titian was recovered at a bus stop in London, followed by another payment made by Charlie Hill to David Dudden of £85,000 to finalise the transaction.
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Titian article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/aug/23/arttheft.arts
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Being an ex-policeman allows all sorts of things to happen !!!!!!
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Those who may have information about the Gardner art stolen from the Gardner Museum Boston, 1990, take note, this is your fate, the same as the Da Vinci Madonna defendants facing criminal trial, if you so much as offer any slight indication you have credible information.

Anthony Amore has the FBI, Geoff Kelly in particular, on speed dial ready for the time when Anthony Amore receives credible information.

Interesting to note, a Lawyer in the Boston area was approached in the not too distant past and asked for their opinion about handing back the stolen Gardner art.

This lawyer, unlike the Da Vinci Madonna lawyers, said, and I quote:

"Until the Gardner Museum firm up their reward offer, the FBI agree to step aside and Immunity agreements are issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office, do nothing, say nothing and realise the Gardner art is radioactive"

Smart lawyer !!!!!!!!!

Stolen Art Watch, Da Vinci Madonna Trial , Up and Running !!!!!!

Stolen Da Vinci extortion trial begins

Five men accused of holding a £4.25 million Da Vinci artwork to ransom went on trial in Edinburgh on Monday.

The Madonna of the Yarnwinder was stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch's Dumfriesshire estate by unknown thieves in 2003. The five men on trial are accused of creating a scam designed to get members of the Buccleuch family and their insurers to pay for its return.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard all the men deny conspiring to extort £4.25 million, as well as an alternative charge of attempted extortion.

The gang is accused of reset and of embezzling cash which was used when the painting was recovered from England.

Marshall Ronald, 53, from Skelmersdale, Robert Graham, 57 and John Doyle, 61, from Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, from Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire and David Boyce, 63, from Airdrie, deny the charges.

The group is said to have worked alongside others in 2007, at various locations across England and Scotland, to hatch a plot to steal cash from the ninth Duke of Buccleuch, who died weeks before the painting was recovered, his insurers and his son, who took over the title.

The men are said to have threatened the Dukes, saying the da Vinci would be damaged or destroyed if the money was not paid.

The five accused are alleged to have menaced the dukes with threats that the da Vinci painting would be damaged or destroyed if the money wasn't paid.

The indictment read to the jury on Monday claims that the group met in the offices of solicitors' firm Boyds, now HBJ Gately Wareing, in Glasgow in July 2007 to agree to their plan.

Ronald is then alleged to have contacted a chartered loss adjuster acting for the Duke's insurers, claiming the painting could be returned in 72 hours.

The indictment claims Ronald thought he was in contact with people acting for the Duke of Buccleuch when he sent e-mails and made phone calls saying "volatile people" would "do something very silly" to the picture if police were called in. The emails are also said to have demanded £2 million be deposited with a solicitors' firm and another pounds £2.25 million be put in a Swiss bank account.

The jury was told Ronald was not aware that he was actually dealing with undercover officers. Ronald is also alleged to have bought special, acid-free paper and a case for transporting the painting, before passing £350,000 to Graham.

Graham and Doyle are then said to have collected the Madonna painting from somethere in England and delivered it to the Solicitors' office in Glasgow.

Court papers also claim that at a meeting held there in October 2007, Ronald, Graham, Doyle and Jones met with two undercover officers. They are alleged to have claimed the would return the painting if the £4.25 million was paid in two instalments.

The men are also facing a second charge of defeating the ends of justice by getting one of the undercover officers to sign an agreement that police would not be told about what was happening.

The trial before Lady Dorrian at the High Court in Edinburgh continues.

BBC Reports:

Five men have gone on trial accused of conspiring to extort £4.25m for the return of a Leonardo da Vinci artwork.

The Madonna with the Yarnwinder was stolen from a Dumfriesshire estate in August 2003.

The court case centres on an alleged scam to get members of the Duke of Buccleuch's family and their insurers to pay for its return.

The five men deny conspiring to extort the £4.25m and an alternative charge of attempted extortion.

The offence is alleged to have taken place between July and October 2007.

The men are accused of threatening to damage the painting if the money was not paid for its safe return.

Marshall Ronald, 53, Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, all from Lancashire, Calum Jones, 45, of Renfrewshire, and David Boyce, 63, of Lanarkshire all deny the charges.

The trial before Lady Dorrian at the High Court in Edinburgh continues

Stolen Art Watch, Insight Into How Police Investigate Art Crime !!!!

£10,000 painting found on thief's wall

A prolific thief has been jailed after a valuable painting stolen from a Hull museum was found hanging in his dining room.

The £10,000 work of art, painted by the renowned John Ward more than 150 years ago, was taken from the wall of Hull Maritime Museum, in Queen Victoria Square, city centre, on June 17 last year.

Initially, it was feared the 12in by 18in painting of a ship, called Schooners Ellen Crawford and Dwina, had been stolen to order and would never be recovered.

It was spotted by chance when two Humberside Police detectives carried out an arrest in a dingy two-bedroom terrace on Princes Avenue, off Greek Street, west Hull.

PC David Jacketts and Detective Sergeant Darren Rose had gone round to arrest Brian Adrian Thompson, 48, for failing to answer bail following four convictions for assaulting his wife.

They found Thompson, who has 58 previous convictions for theft, had hung the painting, in its impressive gold frame, on the chimney breast of his dining room wall.

It was surrounded by magazine cuttings and his wife Suzanne Lynford's own art work.

It is believed Thompson acquired the painting for his wife, due to her love of art.

He has now pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property and been jailed for 18 months.

His wife was also cautioned for possessing criminal property.

Doncaster Crown Court heard Thompson denied stealing the artwork and there was no evidence he had been the one to remove it from the museum.

Judge Jacqueline Davies said: "Items like this are part of the heritage of the city of Hull, building on its reputation and art links with the maritime world.

"This was a serious offence. It would be obvious to anyone looking at it that it was an item of some value - the frame is gilt and ornate. It has a plaque upon it describing its age and there are written documents on the back giving an indication to its age.

"It is valued in the region of £10,000, but it is not just monetary value - it is historic value."

When the police recovered the painting, they did not take any fingerprints or carry out any forensic tests on it for fear of damaging it.

Thompson had screwed two holes into the back of the frame in order to hang it, but no damage was caused to the actual painting.

Judge Davies added: "The item in question is a work of art belonging to the Maritime Museum.

"Thankfully, the painting has been recovered, but it was a valuable item in your possession for a period of up to three months."

The court heard it was painted in 1843 – the same collar tag as PC Jacketts.

He added: "It was a strange coincidence."

Simon Green, assistant head of culture and lifestyle for Hull City Council, which runs the museum, said: "We are delighted that the painting was found and safely returned to its home in the Maritime Museum."

Mr Green, who revealed the painting had been screwed to the wall when it was taken, added: "A theft from a public collection is a theft from everyone in the city."

Art Hostage Comments:

This is a valuable insight into how Police investigate art crime.

When an art crime is committed Police issue a Crime number to the victim and then, wait for it, Police cross their fingers and hope they stumble across the stolen art during an unrelated investigation.

That's it folks, that is the sum of Police efforts into investigating art related crime.

In this instance Police were lucky, but the other 99% of the time stolen art remains outstanding.

Stolen Art Watch, Tiny Reward Offered for £5-10 Million in Stolen Art !! Update !!!!

Art theft in Somerset prompts £50,000 reward

A £50,000 reward has been offered after paintings were stolen during an aggravated burglary in Somerset.

Sixteen paintings were stolen including Endymion by George Frederick Watts, alone estimated to be worth up to £1m.

Masked intruders got away with the works after forcing their way into a property, near Bruton, in March 2009 and left a woman tied up.

Police said the victim, 47, was found at 1600 GMT the next day with bruising, and "extremely shaken and distressed".

A police spokesman said Apple Blossom by Sir George Clausen, An Italian Peasant Boy by Richard Buckner, A grey pony in a stormy landscape by James Ward and John Anthony Park's St Ives were also taken.

Richard Ellis, director of the Art Management Group, which offers services for people seeking to acquire, conserve, or recover art and antiques, said: "Clausen was a prominent British artist and a member of the [Royal] Academy. Apple Blossom is an oil on canvas which is signed and dated 1899 on the reverse.

"The most high-value painting is the Watts oil on canvas. I would estimate this is worth £800,000 to £1m."

He said the paintings were not saleable on the open market.

"They have all been placed on the Art Loss Register and would be very difficult to shift through dealers. It is conceivable they could have been used as a commodity to exchange for drugs or as collateral for other criminal operations," he added.

The owner of the paintings is offering the reward for the arrest and conviction of the offenders, and the recovery of the artworks undamaged.
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Update:
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Detective Inspector Jim Bigger of the Somerset East Public Protection Unit said: "This is a substantial reward, however I do not see this a simple recovery exercise for the paintings, I am focused on the facts that the paintings may lead me to the persons responsible for committing this extremely violent crime, a crime which resulted in my victim being tied up for 18 hours. That is my objective."

Stolen Art Watch, Oops, Casson Case Cracked !!!!!!!

Missing painting is the real deal

It was the old switcheroo. All that remains at the Barrie

Art Club is a copy of AJ Casson's 50-year-old gift to the club.

Barrie Art Club members have a sneaking suspicion that sometime during the last couple of months someone replaced their original AJ Casson painting with the copy they kept on display.

When members wanted to show visiting Orillia-area artist Dave Beckett the original last week, it was nowhere to be found.

On Thursday, Gary Owen of Gary Owen Custom Framing, examined the one that they do possess.

"It's the print," he confirmed. "They mixed up some wires."

AJ Casson was a later member of the famed Canadian artists, The Group of Seven.

In 1959 he conducted a workshop for the Barrie Art Club, creating the 9x12-inch 'House and Hills' oil sketch. When he was done, he signed it and donated it to the club.

It has since remained in the Barrie Art Club's permanent collection, with about two dozen other paintings.

"There are a lot of possibilities," said art club vice-president Carol Mueller. "We had the original in safe keeping and the copy was on display."

Or so they thought.

Casson was a prolific painter and he lived a long time. He died in 1992 at the age of 94. His catalogue is filled with paintings of landscapes and towns throughout Central Ontario.

"I think he was pretty active, so there's a lot of them around," said Owen, who has framed some of Casson's originals over the years.

Barrie police expect to conduct an exhaustive investigation.

"We have a fairly heavy task of: A -Determining when this painting was stolen; and B - Who stole it," said Barrie Police Sgt. Robert Allan.

What police believe may have happened is that someone took the original out of storage and replaced it with the copy.

Police expect to talk with members of the club to help find some of those answers. But they're also hoping to reach out into the local art community for help.

The painting was assessed at $25,000 in 2002. Allan said its value has been estimated at anything between $25,000 and $60,000.

"It's going to be a long, difficult road unless we get co-operation from the public and the art community," said Allan.

Interestingly, Casson often leant his expertise to investigators with the Ontario Provincial Police. An enterprising counterfeiter in the 1960s realized there was good money to be made on Group of Seven paintings, even if they weren't really done by the artists.

An OPP inspector by the name of Erskins teamed up with Casson to look at paintings that were attributed to the Group of Seven.

"Erskins and Casson would show up to authenticate a painting and there would be a dinner party going on, in their honour," said Chris Jackson, a freelance Orillia curator who has worked with Kleinburg's McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Glenbow art gallery in Calgary. "Casson said he never found a fake Casson."

Jackson curated an exhibit of AJ Casson three years ago. When it arrived at Barrie's Maclaren Art Centre, he met with the Barrie Art Club and Casson's 'House and Hills' went on display for the show's duration in Barrie.

The Group of Seven subconsciously divided up the country among themselves. And other than their focus on Algonquin Park and Algoma, Casson thought Ontario was under represented.

"He basically carved out Ontario as his bailiwick for all his career," said Jackson.

He considered himself a recorder of small-town Ontario. And along his travels, he would put on demonstrations for art clubs, like the one he did in Barrie in 1959. And, often, he would leave a memento of his visit behind.

While the painting would be valuable to the club, it's not likely Casson would have considered selling it, because it was more of an oil sketch completed for demonstration purposes than a complete painting, said Jackson.

But since the members have all passed on, all their work is considered valuable.

The painting also provides a direct connection between Barrie, the art club and the famed painter.

The value of the art of the Group of Seven has steadily increased in the past decade alone, Jackson said.

Art Hostage Comments:
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Sometimes it's not good to be right, says Art Hostage smiling like a Cheshire Cat !!!!!

Stolen Art Watch, Group of Seven, Now Six !!!!

Local art club's Group of Seven work stolen

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2010/01/28/casson-barrie art-theft.html#ixzz0dvIhXlr8

The local art club in Barrie, Ont., is reeling after discovering that its cherished painting by Group of Seven member A.J. Casson has been stolen.

Officers are investigating the theft of the Casson work House and Hills, which was reported stolen by the Barrie Art Club this week, police announced on Wednesday.

"Forensic police specialists have attended to the scene and processed the location for evidence," according to a police statement.

Barrie, about 90 kilometres north of Toronto, founded its art club in 1949. The non-profit organization maintains a small gallery, hosts exhibits and holds sessions with visiting artists.

Toronto-born Casson, who was the youngest member of the Group of Seven, visited the club in 1959 to conduct a painting workshop and demonstration. By the end of the session, he had completed an original work — described as a pastoral farm scene set against a stormy sky, which he titled House and Hills — and gifted the painting to the art club.

The work, appraised at $25,000 in 2002, has rarely been seen outside of the Barrie area and was a prized component of the club's approximately 20-piece art collection.

The group also owns a giclée — a type of high-quality, ink-jet printed duplicate of a fine art piece — of House and Hills and members initally believed it was the copy that had been stolen.

Though the club has enlisted an art expert to examine the version still at the club, president Shaaron Hayman-Howard told reporters that she believes the remaining artwork to be the giclée rather than the original.

Barrie police said they are "seeking the assistance of the public in regards to the location of [this] precious piece of Canadian art."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2010/01/28/casson-barrie-art-theft.html#ixzz0dvIoj6If

Art Hostage Comments:

Darryl Vincent, Ray Hobin, Lawyer Michael Morse, all in the frame as the usual suspects.

Stolen Art Watch, Return of the Scott !!!!

Stolen painting returned in the night

Workers at Edinburgh's Signet Library found the raided watercolour hanging outside on railings

A painting which was stolen from an historic Edinburgh Library has been returned anonymously in the night.

The work of art, entitled 'I Cannae Hear Ye', was found hanging on a railing outside the Signet Library when a staff member arrived for work at 8.15am on Thursday.

The watercolour by Borders artist Tom Scott had been snatched from the library earlier this month.

The painting was discovered hanging on a railing outside the library at 8.15am this morning by a member of staff.

Lothian and Borders Police confirmed the work of art was safe, but said the investigation into its initial theft was continuing.

A police spokesman said: "Obviously, we are delighted for the library that the painting has been returned.

"Nevertheless, we still must establish whether any criminality was involved when the painting was taken.

"Anyone with information that can assist with our enquiries should contact police immediately."

Stolen Art Watch, Stolen Painting, Lawyers, Scotland, DeJa Vu !!!

Painting stolen from historic law library
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8458675.stm

A valuable painting has been stolen from a library used by some of Scotland's most senior lawyers.

The watercolour was taken over the New Year from the historic Signet Library in Edinburgh, home of the country's legal establishment.

The Signet Library is in Parliament Square off the Royal Mile and houses The Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, an independent body of lawyers.

It is one of the oldest professional bodies in the world.

The library is a favourite venue for prestigious functions and played host to a New Year party for 200 people.

Sometime between then and 5 January, the watercolour, 'I Cannae Hear Ye' by Borders artist Tom Scott, was stolen.

It is valued at up to £4,000.

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "This has been an opportunistic theft of a relatively expensive piece of artwork, and we are eager to ensure it is returned to the library.

"Anyone who has any information that can assist our inquiries should contact police immediately."

Tom Scott lived between 1854 and 1927 and mainly painted landscapes.

Stolen Art Watch, Clawed Monet Survives the Switch !!!

Police have found Claude Monet’s painting Beach at Pourville, stolen nine years ago and worth millions of dollars.
http://www.thenews.pl/national/artykul123585_stolen-monet-found-in-poland.html

The painting has been found in Olkusz, southern Poland - 41-year-old Robert Z., suspected of the theft, has been detained.

Beach at Pourville was stolen on 19 September 2000 from the National Museum in the western city of Poznan. The painting, worth from 3 to 7 million dollars, located in the Monet exhibition room, was not properly protected – there were no CCTV cameras in the room and the paintings were not in glass cases. The thief cut the painting out of the frame and replaced it with a forgery. -

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Beach at Pourville is the only painting by Claude Monet in a Polish art collections. It was painted in 1882 and is one of a series of canvases that depict a seascape of Pourville. The museum in Poznan, then in Germany, bought the painting in 1906.

Stolen Art Watch, Gerald Blanchard, The Pipes, The Pipes Are Calling, Oh Danny Boy !!!!

Super-thief eyes career as security consultant
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/01/11/manitoba-blanchard-crime-ring.html

A man described by Canadian police as one of the most sophisticated criminal masterminds they've ever seen is grooming himself for a new career as a security consultant.

Freshly released from prison and now living at a Vancouver halfway house, Gerald Blanchard was the linchpin behind an international fraud and theft ring that stole millions from banks and financial institutions.

Facing more than 40 charges when police caught up with him in 2007, Blanchard pleaded guilty to 16 of those charges in a Winnipeg court. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in the case that involved global heists and unconfirmed links to Kurdish rebels. Blanchard admitted several capers were carried out on behalf of a mysterious figure known as "The Boss." The Canadian lived a jet-set lifestyle under several assumed identities, using elaborate disguises and high-tech surveillance equipment to empty cash machines from banks around the world

Hurting corporations
In one audacious theft, he posed as a tourist in a Vienna castle before swiping the priceless Star of the Empress Sisi from an encased display — leaving a gift-shop replica in its place. The 19th-century diamond-and-pearl heirloom was later found stashed at the home of one of Blanchard's relatives in Winnipeg.

"I felt guilty to a certain extent, but my reasoning behind it at the time was I'm not hurting individuals, I'm hurting corporations," Blanchard told CBC News in an exclusive interview.

Aside from orchestrating robberies at financial institutions in Alberta, Manitoba, and B.C. — including the Alberta Treasury Branch — Blanchard's criminal organization made an overseas trip on behalf of a London-based man officials and court records describe only as "The Boss."

Heard on a police wiretap, Blanchard received a call from the United Kingdom, said Winnipeg police Det. Larry Levasseur.

"Basically the boss told him how quickly can you get your crew together? I have a job for you to do in Cairo," said Levasseur.

In Cairo, Blanchard's crew withdrew wads of cash using stolen bank cards. In just over a week they took more than $1 million. The funds were believed to have been used to finance Kurdish rebels.

Uncommonly gifted
Police described Blanchard as charming and uncommonly gifted at what he did.

He was eventually arrested by Winnipeg police who were investigating the brazen theft at a CIBC branch in which $500,000 was stolen from the bank the day before its grand opening.

Blanchard had stolen blueprints for the new bank, and defeated the security system on the ATMs by installing his own electronic surveillance equipment in the walkway behind them. With pinhole cameras and listening devices in the ATM room, he knew the coast was clear.

But he slipped up when another business owner noticed a rented van – hired in Blanchard's name – in the parking lot near the bank. Still, it took police three years to catch up with him.

While in Austria on a 1998 honeymoon he was introduced to the Sisi Star.

"The person who gave us the tour explained that this there's only two diamonds like this in the world and it was priceless," said Blanchard, who admits that it was his level of surveillance and patience that made him not simply a good thief but a great one.

"I just had the ability to look around me and realize where the flaws are in everything. That's why I was so good at walking into a bank, looking around and knowing exactly where the flaws are and taking advantage of it."

Winnipeg police Det. Mitch McMormack said after he arrested Blanchard he was amazed at the criminal's ability to assemble and disassemble the type of locks used by banks.

"So I took him during one of our conversations a bag of parts of this lock. It was all apart. And it was like watching a person with a Rubik's Cube that could actually solve it. In a matter of a couple of minutes he put springs and screws all back together, spun the dial on that thing, and charged it up. I've never seen anything like it."

No one is exactly sure just how much stolen money went through Blanchard's hands. But inspired by the sentencing judge at his trial, who said Blanchard might have made good money consulting for the banks he stole from, the long-time crook said he's now focused on the straight and narrow.

Discussions about legitimate security consulting are underway, but Blanchard said he can't provide details due to confidentiality agreements.

Art Hostage Comments:

So much to say, but this will do for a start, below, four versions of Danny Boy, Mario Lanza to Eva Cassidy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzL-eGDYIJA&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMFzsQ3sACs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jgma--0WYU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=852gverKRPo

Stolen Art Watch, Art Theft in the Spotlight !!!

France battles theft of cultural treasures

PARIS, Jan 10, 2010 (AFP) - French police colonel Stephane Gauffeny started the year with a heavy caseload.

His job: investigating the theft of art and treasures in France, one of the best-endowed and most stolen-from countries in the world, which was struck by two major crimes in the week after Christmas alone.

In the first, a picture by Edgar Degas worth 800,000 euros (1.14 billion dollars) was unscrewed from the walls of a museum in Marseille.

The colourful pastel of performing singers, titled "The Chorus", was on loan from the Musee d'Orsay, Paris's eminent museum of Impressionist art.

Three days later, police discovered the theft of some 30 paintings valued at around a million euros, including works by Picasso and Rousseau, from a private villa in the south.

Both cases crossed Gauffeny's desk at the government's cultural theft investigations squad, where he oversees national efforts to "identify stolen objects and beat the traffickers."

"It's an enormous job -- a fascinating job," the stocky gendarme told AFP, sipping milky coffee at a Paris cafe after a morning of meetings.

Local and foreign thieves have for years been targeting the collections in French museums, churches and private homes, exploiting a rich cultural heritage that draws millions of foreign visitors a year.

In last year's highest profile case, thieves broke into a museum devoted to Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in central Paris and stole a book of his pencil drawings valued by the government at three million euros.

Gauffeny says thefts have declined by a factor of four in the past decade as thieves look for loot that is easier to sell and France has stiffened penalties for those convicted of stealing objects classed as cultural assets.

But this still left 2,000 thefts across the country in 2008, according to his figures.

"We concentrate our energy on the biggest thefts or the biggest criminal rings," Gauffeny said, citing an ongoing investigation of auctioneers at the renowned Drouot auction house in Paris.

Two Drouot brokers were charged last month after police recovered more than 100 artworks, including a painting by the 19th-century artist Gustave Courbet, "Seascape Under Stormy Skies", worth 900,000 euros.

Gauffeny said it was a huge case and "extremely rare", possibly involving scores of insiders -- a different class of crime from the armed robberies or opportunistic thefts that his unit has dealt with in the past.

"We have put all our investigative resources into it," he said.

The cross-border police agency Interpol, based in Lyon, cites France and Italy as the two nations worst affected by the theft of precious artworks and antiques.

In August it launched an online catalogue of missing artefacts, which lists hundreds of paintings stolen in France as well as crucifixes, chalices and other treasures burgled from its churches over the decades.

"France has a relatively large national heritage," says Aline Le Visage, the representative in France for the Art Loss Register, a private firm that logs and identifies stolen objects for victims, dealers and other clients.

This abundance makes it "a country of choice" for art thieves -- and many great works are held not by museums but by private individuals, she said.

"There has been a slight fall in thefts over the past 10 years or so on a world level, but we have noticed a rise in thefts from private owners and also in galleries."

Robbers have struck at museums in Paris and other cities, sometimes in broad daylight, Gauffeny says, recalling various sting operations and cross-border hand-offs of stolen artworks, many of which quickly vanish abroad.

Police say major artworks are usually trafficked abroad, sometimes within days of being stolen -- most to neighbouring European countries, but sometimes as far as the United States and Japan, from where they are rarely recovered.

Demand follows the same general trends as the legal art market, and much art crime is carried out by insiders. "Most of the people fencing the items are art dealers," Gauffeny said.

Objects of lesser value often stay in France, sometimes held in reserve by the traffickers who quietly leak them back onto the market years later.

In one operation in 2008 in Marseille, Gauffeney said, police infiltrated a ring of thieves and seized paintings by Monet and Sisley after posing as buyers who wanted to take the works to the United States.

In another, near Lyon, an investigation into antique-dealing circles led police to a vast haul of stolen goods in a storage space spanning hundreds of square metres.

Outside the big city museum cases, Gauffeny and other experts say most of the crimes hit softer targets: unsecured provincial venues, churches and homes.

Didier Rykner, a fine art specialist who monitors thefts on his online journal La Tribune de l'Art, said many works are at risk in run-down, unguarded museums on which authorities are unwilling to spend money.

"In my opinion the problem of theft is more serious in churches than in museums. There are major works in churches and they are less well guarded," he said.

"Yet the more valuable a work is, the harder it is to sell, because everyone knows the object."

Some of the biggest cases, such as last year's stolen Picasso, nevertheless remain unsolved, leaving plenty of work for Gauffeny's department and its huge database of stolen items.

"We are always particularly on the look-out for national treasures," said Gauffeny, while for minor or privately-owned artefacts, "the rate of recovery is low."

The fight to recover cultural relics is "a really fascinating job, full of emotion," he added.

"When you return objects stolen from a church, the whole village comes out to see you."

Stolen Art Watch, Cartier to Cash !!!!

France armed gang steals millions
5 January 2010

A gang armed with rifles and explosives has stolen several million euros from an armoured van which was transporting the cash to a bank in southern France.

About a dozen masked robbers used several cars to block the van in the village of Gemenos, near Aubagne.

Reportedly armed with kalashnikovs, the gang then used explosives to blow open the doors of the vehicle and break into its security boxes.

The Sazias security van was said to be carrying a total of 8m euros (£7.1m).

The robbers were only able to break into two of four security boxes, making off with around half of the money being transported, said a spokesman for Sazias.

After a brief shootout with local police, the gunmen escaped and their vehicles were found later on Monday, abandoned and torched.

"This was a very organised gang," Marseille prosecutor Jacques Dallest was quoted as saying by AFP.

"They were able to break into the van using explosives, which suggests that they had serious means at their disposal."

The van had been heading to Toulon to deposit cash at a Banque de France branch.

In 2007, some 10m euros were stolen from a Sazias van in Gemenos.

Stolen Art Watch, Picasso, Rousseau Follows Degas into the Underworld, 2010 Off to a Flyer !!!!

Around 30 paintings, including works by Picasso and Rousseau, valued at around a million euros (1.4 million dollars), have been stolen from a private villa in the south of France

Picasso, Rousseau paintings stolen in France

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

DRAGUIGNAN, France — Around 30 paintings, including works by Picasso and Rousseau, valued at around a million euros (1.4 million dollars), have been stolen from a private villa in the south of France, police said Saturday.

But a Modigliani initially believed to be part of the haul has since been found, police in Toulon said.

The villa's French owner was holidaying in Sweden at the time of the break-in, which was discovered by the caretaker on Thursday afternoon.

Police said the owner had returned home to carry out an inventory of his collection to establish the exact loss.

The reported burglary in La Cadiere d'Azur comes after a pastel by Degas disappeared from the Cantini museum in Marseille on New Year's Eve. The 1877 pastel worth 800,000 euros had been lent for an exhibition by Paris' Orsay museum. Related article: Watchman questioned over stolen Degas

The painting had been unscrewed from the wall and there was no evidence of a break-in, police said, indicating the thief or thieves knew how to get round the museum's security system.

Stolen Art Watch, Degas, Guard in the Frame !!

'Guard behind Edgar Degas artwork theft'
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115161§ionid=3510212

A security guard has been arrested in connection with the theft of a painting by the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas which was stolen from a museum in Marseilles in southern France, a public prosecutor says.

“A night watchman at the Musee Cantini has been apprehended in connection with the disappearance of Edgar Degas's very expensive painting,” Marseille public prosecutor Jacques Dallest said on Friday.

He, however, did not say if the artwork had been recovered.

The disappearance of “Les Choristes (The Chorus)" was discovered when the museum opened on Thursday morning.

The art piece is worth an estimated 800,000 euros ($1.15 million). Local media had originally said it was worth an estimated 30 million euros.

The Musee d'Orsay had loaned The Chorus to the Cantini gallery for an exhibition on the work of Degas. The show was due to close on Sunday before touring to Italy and Canada.

The Chorus, which dates from 1877, is a small work in bright pastels portraying a row of male choir singers on stage.

It was one of many works loaned out by the Musee d'Orsay in recent months to raise money.

Marseille Police Let Watchman Go in Degas Theft

Deepening the mystery over the theft of a valuable painting by the 19th-century French artist Edgar Degas, the police in Marseille on Friday released a night watchman who had been detained for questioning the day before.

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He was on duty when the work, valued at about $1.15 million, vanished from the Cantini Museum there. The piece, “The Chorus,” a small pastel that shows singers performing on a theater stage, was missing when the museum opened on Thursday, and there was no sign of a break-in.

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It was one of about 20 Degas works on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris for an exhibition of paintings with theatrical themes. It was to close on Sunday and travel this year to Italy and Canada.

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Art Hostage Comments:

You pay peanuts, you get Monkey's.

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Low paid guards are easily corrupted