WORLD
NEWS
A
Scotland Yard source said the market for antiques and art was attracting
gun-runners, drug dealers and international crime syndicates. He added:
"London is one of the world’s premier art markets, so a lot of stolen
paintings and antiques come through Britain, whether it is stolen here or not.
"On average we recover about £20 million worth of art a year, which on the
scale of things probably doesn’t seem a lot. The trouble for the police is art
theft is an international affair, with 45 per cent of recovered property found
in a different country to that of its disappearance. "At the moment we are
noting an increasing trend in serious criminal gangs, especially criminals
from the Balkans, becoming involved in the stolen art business." Scotland Yard
believes that stolen antiques and paintings are gaining an increasing market
value for career gangsters and, in a number of recent cases, police have
discovered that works of art have been used in the criminal underworld in
exchange for drugs or guns, as using art avoids obvious sums of money going
through bank accounts. Charley Hill, a former detective in Scotland Yard’s
arts and antiques squad, and now a security adviser to the Historic Houses
Association, agrees. According to Mr. Hill, there are two common myths
surrounding the art thief: that he is aristocratic, and that he is stealing to
order for a Dr No figure, complete with secret hoard of priceless objects
d’art. He said: "They’re not Raffles-type climbers with a box of chocolates.
They’re social climbing crooks and very often hardened criminals. "They’re
commodities criminals, whether it’s drugs, securities or works of art. "The
public may often see it as the acceptable face of crime, but it is a serious
and dangerous business."
Stolen
paintings worth millions
Some of the most significant masterpieces stolen recently:
ARTIST: Rembrandt. PAINTING: The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. STOLEN:
From Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, US, 18 March, 1990. VALUE:
Around £30 million. There has been no news of this 1633 oil painting since
its theft.
ARTIST: Caravaggio. PAINTING: Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence.
STOLEN: Oratorio di San Lorenzo, Palermo, Sicily, 19 October, 1969. VALUE:
More than £20 million. Believed stolen by the Sicilian Mafia, this work -
dating from 1609 and one of the Renaissance master’s last paintings - remains
Italy’s most wanted piece of stolen art.
ARTIST: Oudry. PAINTING: The White Duck. STOLEN: Houghton Hall,
Norfolk, 30 September, 1992. VALUE: £5 million. One of a number of
important works stolen from the Marquess of Cholmondeley’s stately home.
ARTIST: Klim. PAINTING: Portrait of a Woman. STOLEN: Ricchi Oddi
Gallery, Piacenza, Italy, February 1997. VALUE: £12 million. The thief
is believed to have used a fishing rod-style device to hoist the painting
through a skylight, and it was only some days later that the loss was
discovered.