Thieves snatch Swedish crown jewels in daylight heist

A picture taken on July 31, 2018 shows a cordoned zone as Swedish police investigates after Sweden’s royal jewels dated from the 17th century have been stolen in the Strängnäs cathedral. Pontus STENBERG / TT News Agency / AFP.

STOCKHOLM (AFP).- Robbers who nabbed two 17th century royal crowns and an orb from a Swedish cathedral remained at large on Wednesday, a day after fleeing their daring midday heist by motorboat. The thieves, who have not been identified, and the jewels are being sought internationally via Interpol, Swedish police spokesman Stefan Dangardt said, noting the objects were a "national treasure" and would likely be "very difficult to sell".

The gold burial crowns from 1611 belonging to King Karl IX and his wife Queen Christina were originally interred with the couple but were later exhumed and had been on display in a locked glass cabinet in Strangnas Cathedral, located 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Stockholm. King Karl IX's crown is made of gold and features crystals and pearls, while Christina's is smaller and made of gold, precious stones and pearls. "We have as yet no value of the stolen goods, except that it is a national treasure," Dangardt told AFP.

"Several people were seen leaving the church by boat or jet ski after the theft. We have spoken to witnesses, but we are interested in further information from anyone that has made any observations," he said. Tom Rowsell, who was having lunch outside the cathedral where he is to be married this weekend, told daily Aftonbladet he saw two men dash from the building toward a motorboat waiting on Lake Malaren. "I saw a white little boat with an outboard motor on the back. The two men hurriedly jumped on board and it sped off," he said. "I knew immediately they were burglars because of the way they were behaving," he added. 'Not possible to sell' The theft occurred just before noon on Tuesday, and police quickly had helicopters, patrols, and search dogs looking for the thieves but their efforts have so far proved fruitless, Dangardt said.

"There is of course going to be a lot of media interest in these types of objects. There will be pictures in the media. It's just not possible to sell these kinds of objects," the national police coordinator for thefts of cultural artefacts, Maria Ellior, told news agency TT. "So we can only speculate about (the thieves) intentions," she added.

Similar heists have occurred before.
In 2013, King Johan III's burial regalia was stolen from Vasteras Cathedral. It was recovered several days later in a garbage bag left on a countryside road, following an anonymous tip. "One can hope that something like that will happen in this case," Ellior said.

The perpetrators of Tuesday's heist risk up to six years in prison for aggravated theft. Lars Amreus of the Swedish National Heritage Board said the theft was a great loss for Sweden. "These are royal regalia that belong to the Kingdom of Sweden, totally unique objects that are of immense immaterial value," he told daily Dagens Nyheter. He said the theft had likely been ordered by someone who was very well aware of the objects' value and who was willing to take a big risk to get their hands on them.

© Agence France-Presse

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Gallery owners stunned by theft of work by Canadian artist

TP, Headphones, Laptop, Brushes by Ontario artist Mike Bayne was stolen from a Calgary art gallery

A Calgary art gallery hopes surveillance video will help catch culprits behind a bold noon hour theft. Ina Sidhu explains.



Owners of a downtown Calgary art gallery believe a recent noon hour robbery is the work of a smooth criminal. They hope security video will help catch the culprit who swiped a $12,000.00 painting from the Trepanier Baer Gallery. The oil painting by Kingston, Ontario artist Mike Bayne is of his own workspace and is titled TP, Headphones, Laptop, Brushes.

“It was a small little intimate painting measuring 4x6 in black and white an absolutely wonderful little thing,” says Yves Trepanier the co-owner of Trepanier Baer Gallery. He says Bayne is a well collected artist in both Canada and the United States.

Trenpanier says a man walked into the gallery and several people in the gallery spoke to him, explained the exhibit to him and asked if he needed help but the man said no he was just wandering around. “We’d never seen him before and he was well dressed and seemed like a reasonable person so he wandered around,” says Trepanier.

It’s believed the painting went missing sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Wednesday and everyone was stunned when they realized it was gone. “It’s very bold. I mean this is broad daylight this is over the lunch hour. This is three people talking to the person the suspect and he somehow managed to fool us. It was quite a thing so just from that point of view we were shocked and disappointed that we weren't able to do anything and didn’t see anything happen,” says Trepanier.

Trenpanier says they called police immediately and handed over the surveillance video and also notified the Art Dealers Association of Canada which alerted the art community including sellers, appraisers and auction houses. “We're hoping it will be harder for this person to sell the painting if that’s the intent,” says Trepanier. “Selling artwork, stolen artwork is not an easy thing to do and what was the motive this person had I have no idea.”

Trepanier has been in business for 30 years and says nothing like this has ever happened to him. He also says art thefts in Canada are quite rare with less than a dozen thefts from Canadian art galleries in a year. The gallery does have insurance on the piece and has informed artist Mike Bayne of the theft.

Amy Stalker, Senior News Producer
@CTVAStalker
Published Friday, July 27, 2018 5:49PM MDT
Last Updated Friday, July 27, 2018 7:18PM MDT

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/gallery-owners-stunned-by-theft-of-work-by-canadian-artist-1.4031446

European police seize 25,000 trafficked ancient finds

Some 25 000 archeological goods seized worth a total of EUR 40 million. Photo: Europol.

THE HAGUE (AFP).- Police forces in four countries on Wednesday seized some 25,000 Greek and Roman archaeological items worth over 40 million euros ($46 million) in pre-dawn raids, cracking down on illegal trafficking in cultural goods. Some 250 officers in Italy, Spain, Britain and Germany simultaneously swooped on 40 houses -- the culmination of a four-year investigation led by the Italians, the European police agency said.

In Italy, the raids were focused on the regions of Sicily, Calabria, Piedmont, Apulia, in what is considered one of the biggest crackdowns in such crimes "in Italian history". In the Sicilian Caltanissetta area "which is rich in archaeological sites from the Greek and Roman epochs, local members of the organised crime group illegally excavated artefacts," Europol said.

The items were then smuggled out of Italy, "equipped with false provenances and sold via German auction houses." Facilitators in Barcelona and London helped organise the "supply chain" and provided technical support. Police also seized 1,500 tools including metal detectors in the early morning raids. "International cooperation is key to the success of such investigations in the field of trafficking of cultural goods, in which artefacts are moved through several EU countries and levels before they are brought to the legal market," Europol added.

© Agence France-Presse

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Art dynasty heir Wildenstein cleared at Paris fraud trial

In this file photo taken on September 22, 2016 French American art dealer Guy Wildenstein arrives for his trial over tax fraud at the courthouse in Paris. A Paris court will rule on June 29, 2018 on the Wildenstein case appeal trial. Eric FEFERBERG / AFP. by Sofia Bouderbala

PARIS (AFP).- Guy Wildenstein, the Franco-American patriarch of an art-dealing dynasty, was cleared Friday of tax fraud after being accused of hiding hundreds of millions of euros from French authorities. A first trial for him and other family members collapsed in January 2017, but French prosecutors successfully appealed for a re-trial, only to suffer a second setback on Friday when the Wildensteins were acquitted again.

The appeal court "finds that the crime of tax fraud is outside the statute of limitations... and confirms the judgement" of the first trial, the presiding judge told a packed courtroom in Paris during a five-minute judgement. Prosecutors had called for a four-year prison sentence and a fine of 250 million euros for Wildenstein during the trial, which stems from a multi-generational inheritance squabble worthy of a soap opera. The case revolved around tax declarations filed in 2002 and 2008. Wildenstein's nephew Alec Junior and his ex-stepsister Liouba Stoupakova were also cleared, as well as trust fund managers and lawyers who were put on trial.

In January 2017, a court found evidence of a "clear attempt" by Wildenstein and seven co-defendants to hide art treasures and properties worth hundreds of millions of euros from tax authorities. Most of the dynasty's billions are held by a web of trusts and holding companies stretching from the Channel Island of Guernsey to the Bahamas. But the presiding judge said lapses in the investigation and in French law made it impossible to return a guilty verdict, a decision that led to the appeal by prosecutors for a re-trial.

'Load of rubbish'
Wildenstein's lawyers had always contested the legal grounds for the prosecution, arguing that there was "no legal nor moral grounds to accuse Guy Wildenstein of anything." His lawyer Herve Temime called the verdict on Friday "the only decision possible" and sharply criticised French prosecutors. "It's very easy to make up figures, to sully a name, a family, and explain in every way possible that there was massive tax evasion that must be judged. Except that it was false and a load of rubbish," he said.

Wildenstein is the heir of three generations of wealthy art dealers and thoroughbred racehorse breeders. French tax authorities claimed that family money was hidden after the death of Guy's father Daniel in 2001 and his brother Alec in 2008, both of whom died in Paris.

Alec became famous during his messy divorce from Swiss socialite Jocelyne Perisse, nicknamed "Bride of Wildenstein" for her extreme cosmetic surgery, reportedly to make her look more cat-like. The second wives and widows of Daniel and Alec rose up against the family over their slice of the inheritance, accusing Guy of hiding much of his inherited fortune via a web of opaque trusts in tax havens.

This piqued the interest of French investigators, who began probing the case in 2010 and demanded in 2014 a tax adjustment payment of 550 million euros. Family assets include a host of works by Rococo painter Fragonard and post-Impressionist Bonnard, and a stable of thoroughbred horses including Ascot Gold Cup winner Westerner. Other assets included a vast real estate portfolio, with the jewel in the crown a luxurious Kenyan ranch which provided the backdrop for the film "Out of Africa".

In Friday's court ruling, the presiding judge said Guy Wildenstein could not be prosecuted over a 2002 tax declaration after his father's death because too much time had elapsed since. The statute of limitations for prosecutions at the time was only three years. For the second tax declaration in 2008 after Alec's death, the judge found there was no legal basis for prosecuting the Wildensteins.

France changed its law on trust funds in 2011 -- known as the "Wildenstein law" -- to give tax authorities greater power to pursue individuals who shift assets to offshore investment funds to avoid tax.

© Agence France-Presse
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Berlin's Bode Museum returns Nazi-looted treasure, heirs agree to sell back

One of the heirs of former owners, a Jewish couple who fled the Nazi regime, Felix de Marez Oyens (L) and his wife Theodora de Marez Oyens stand in front of a 15th century religious wooden sculpture during its restitution on June 25, 2018 in Berlin. A Berlin museum said it had formally restituted the medieval artifact to the heirs who in turn agreed to sell back, the "Three Angels with the Christ Child", at an undisclosed price to the Bode Museum, which will keep it in its collection. The delicately carved 25 centimetre (10 inch) tall sculpture from around 1430 shows three floating angels in the clouds holding a cloth on which lies the sleeping infant Jesus. Bernd von Jutrczenka / AFP.

BERLIN (AFP).- A Berlin museum Monday said it had formally restituted a 15th century religious wooden sculpture to the heirs of former owners, a Jewish couple who fled the Nazi regime. The heirs in turn agreed to sell back the medieval artifact, "Three Angels with the Christ Child", at an undisclosed price to the Bode Museum, which will keep it in its collection.

The agreement meant "righting an injustice", said the head of Berlin's public museums, Michael Eissenhauer, who thanked the heirs for the "grand gesture" that will keep the priceless piece on public display. The delicately carved 25 centimetre (10 inch) tall sculpture from around 1430 shows three floating angels in the clouds holding a cloth on which lies the sleeping infant Jesus.

It once belonged to the private collection of Ernst Saulmann, a Jewish industrialist, and his wife Agathe, an architect's daughter who was one of the few female pilots of her era. As Adolf Hitler's thugs stepped up their campaign to terrorise Jews, the couple fled Nazi repression in late 1935, initially for Italy. The Nazis confiscated their wealth, including their land and business, a mechanised cotton mill, as well as their private library, art collection and Agathe's plane. The more than 100 artworks were sold off at a Munich auction in 1936.

The exiled Saulmanns in 1938 left fascist Italy for France, which the Nazis invaded two years later. The couple were interned in France in Camp Gurs, where Ernst Saulmann's health severely deteriorated. He died a year after the war ended, in 1946. Agathe, having suffered depression after the horrors she endured, committed suicide in 1951.

In recent years, their descendants hired researchers who managed to locate 11 of the art objects, which had ended up in five German museums and three private collections abroad. "My family was able to reach different agreements with all these institutions and collectors," said one of the heirs, Felix de Marez Oyens, at a press conference. "However, the Bode Museum is the only institution that conducted independent research and approached us with the results." On the verge of tears, he added: "I am convinced that Ernst and Agathe Saulmann would have welcomed this agreement".

© Agence France-Presse
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Banksy print stolen from Toronto show

At some point last Sunday a Banksy print was removed from the exhibit.

OTTAWA.- Canadian police said Thursday they are investigating the theft of a Banksy print from an unauthorized exhibit of the British-based guerrilla graffiti artist's work in Toronto. "We were called about a break and enter in the city's west end," Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu told AFP. "At some point last Sunday a Banksy print was removed from the exhibit."

The stolen "Trolley Hunters" print depicts crouching men in loin cloths armed with stone-tipped wooden spears and axes as they hunt grocery shopping carts in a grassy field. Its value is estimated at Can$45,000 (US$34,000), Sidhu said.

The Art of Banksy exhibit -- curated by his former manager Steve Lazarides, but reportedly not endorsed by the artist himself -- opened on Wednesday in a Toronto industrial building dressed up as an art gallery, as part of a larger North American run.

Displaying about 80 works on loan from collectors, including sculptures, screen prints, canvases and multimedia pieces, it has been billed as the largest collection of Banksy works ever assembled.
The exhibit runs until July 11.

© Agence France-Presse
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Sir Stanley Spencer painting discovered hidden under a bed during a drugs raid

Five years after the theft of Cookham from Englefield, police discovered the painting hidden under a bed during a drugs raid on a property in West London.

LONDON.- Cookham from Englefield by Sir Stanley Spencer was on loan to the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham in 2012 when thieves broke in through a window and removed it. The owners said they were devastated at the loss of the painting, which was of great sentimental value.

However, they were compensated for the loss of the painting by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport under the Government Indemnity Scheme. The scheme provides UK museums and galleries with an alternative to commercial insurance, which can be costly. It allows organizations to display art and objects that they might not have been able to borrow due to high insurance costs.

Five years after the theft of Cookham from Englefield, police discovered the painting hidden under a bed during a drugs raid on a property in West London. A 28-year-old man was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court in October after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and acquiring criminal property. He also admitted a charge of handling stolen goods. Last month the owners were finally reunited with their painting

Arts Minister Michael Ellis said: Spencer is one our most renowned painters and a true great of the 20th century. It is wonderful that this story has had a happy ending and the painting has been returned to its rightful owners. This has been made possible because of the Government Indemnity Scheme. It exists to protect owners when lending their works to public galleries. Without it there would be fewer world-class pieces on display across the country for people to enjoy.

Detective Inspector Brian Hobbs, of the Met’s Organised Crime Command, said: I am pleased to say that the painting has now been returned to its owners. The seizure of the painting was the result of a proactive investigation by the Organised Crime Command, which resulted in a significant custodial sentence for the defendant found in possession of the painting.

Detective Constable Sophie Hayes, of the Met’s Art and Antiques Unit, said: The Art and Antiques Unit was delighted to assist with the recovery and return of this important painting. The circumstances of its recovery underline the links between cultural heritage crime and wider criminality. The fact that the painting was stolen five years before it was recovered did not hinder a prosecution for handling stolen goods, demonstrating the Met will pursue these matters wherever possible, no matter how much time has elapsed.

Sir Stanley Spencer (1891 - 1959) was an English painter known for his works depicting Biblical scenes of his birthplace Cookham. He is one of the most important artists of the 20th century and during the Second World War was commissioned by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee.

It is estimated that the Government Indemnity Scheme saves UK museums and galleries £14 million a year. In the last ten years of the scheme, only 12 claims for damage and loss have been received. This incident is the first one where an item covered by the Scheme has been stolen and successfully returned to its original owners. In line with the rules of the Government Indemnity Scheme for the return of the painting, the owners repaid the amount they had received in settlement of the claim minus the cost of repairs and depreciation.

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