This art crime didn't pay

With top-rank artworks, thieves often find out that it's not easy to turn them into cash. The only crooks who seem to turn a consistent profit are those who go for a quick ransom payment -- but I suspect that the only ones who manage to pull it off are those who have some experience in the field. Amateurs, beware:

A retired Massachusetts lawyer who tried to sell seven stolen pictures worth $30m, which a client had left with him shortly before being shot dead, will be sentenced in November. In August, a federal jury in Boston found Robert Mardirosian guilty of knowingly possessing stolen goods that had crossed a United States boundary. The 1978 theft from collector Michael Bakwin was the largest home burglary in Massachusetts history. Mardirosian, 72, now faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison plus three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The stolen works included Cézanne's painting Bouilloire et Fruits, 1888-1890.

Posted by David on September 28, 2008 4:59 PM