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Art heists on the rise as auction prices spiral
By Eoin Callan article found at: http://news.ft.com/ The recent round of contemporary auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's had the same frenzied atmosphere as early 2000 when dotcom initial public offerings made a new generation of multi-millionaires. But criminals lurking in the background have been taking note of the trends, according to Dick Ellis, the former head of Scotland Yard's Art and Antiques squad. The works are rarely destined for individual collectors or private display. "The professional art thief does not steal to order - that is a myth," Mr Ellis said. Instead, art is often stolen for use as collateral in arms and drugs deals or as a commodity that can be exchanged between criminal organisations. Mr Ellis led the recovery of Edward Munch's original Scream and Metsu's Love letter, which was stolen in Ireland and turned up in Istanbul, where it was being used as collateral in a large heroin deal. The supplier had provided the heroin up front, while the seller agreed to pay for the drugs once they had distributed enough heroin to raise the cash, a common transaction in the drugs trade. The painting was given to the supplier as surety on the deal. Art works often circulate in criminal networks in this way for years, only turning up by chance when police raids aimed at other illegal activities uncover them. But it is not uncommon for insurance companies to pay a ransom for the return of valuable works, and this underpins their value as illicit goods. Three men were jailed last month after trying to ransom a Rembrandt self-portrait in Copenhagen. The piece was stolen from a Swedish museum with two paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir by armed robbers. It had been in the hands of international drug traffickers for four years. All three paintings have since been recovered. "It is a global business," said Mr Ellis, estimated by the FBI to be worth billions, though there are no official statistics and national crime figures do not detail art burglaries. As thefts rise, the industry has been reaching out to collectors and high net worth individuals through the Art Management Group, an umbrella body of industry stakeholders that Mr Ellis assists with security and recovery. Owners of modern sculpture have been among the victims of the recent increase in thefts of contemporary works, said Mr Ellis, who recently recovered several statues lifted from English stately homes after tracing them to the US. This trend may also lie behind a recent string of thefts of more than 20 bronze sculptures revealed by British police this week. Henry Moore's Reclining Figure was hoisted by crane from a supposedly secure facility in England last month and this week police said one of three figures making up The Watchers, a bronze sculpture by Lynn Chadwick, had been stolen in south-west London. Police fear the sculptures may be melted down for scrap to cash in on high copper prices. But Mr Ellis says it is more likely they were destined for overseas. Police often try to talk down the value of stolen objects in order to frustrate criminal attempts to shift them, he says. "If you look at the care and planning that went into the Henry Moore heist, it is clear this was not opportunistic. It was not an itinerant driving past with a lorry." "The Henry Moore is more likely sitting in a shipping container at this moment," he added |
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