Displaying items by tag: detectives

Italian police are trying to establish the true owner of a Picasso painting worth €15 m (£11m) after confiscating it from a pensioner who says he was given it for free.

The Rome resident, a former frame-maker, told detectives he received the work in 1978 as a thank-you gift for an act of kindness towards a recently bereaved customer.

A widower had come into his shop in a state of distress after breaking a photo frame in which he kept a picture of his late wife. Touched, the frame-maker replaced the glass for free.

Detectives from the German Federal Criminal Police seized a trove of forged paintings; complete with forged provenance documents and receipts, as well as jewelery and other valuables in a coordinated raid across six German states last June - According to Der Hessische Rundfunk. Investigators into the illegal ring believe that the artworks were painted in forgery studios that were based in Russia and Israel and then shipped to Germany for sale. This information was obtained during two simultaneous raids in Switzerland and Israel.

Some 15 months after Police uncovered the international art forgery ring, German state prosecutors have officially charged two men with the crimes, "Der Spiegel" reported.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department released a statement on Tuesday, August, 6, 2013 asking for the public’s help in finding sculptures, jewelry and nearly a dozen paintings that were stolen from a Rancho Santa Fe home on either June 17^th or June 18^th. The unknown suspects made off with over $5 million in valuables that included Chinese sculptures, elaborate custom jewelry made from gold, diamonds, tourmaline and other precious gems as well as a print by Claude Monet and one by Camille Pissarro.

While detectives have not revealed the name of the homeowner or the specific address of the ransacked home, the residence was unoccupied at the time of the theft. Investigators are hoping that help from the public will allow them to locate the stolen goods and identify suspects. Authorities are offering a $1,000 reward for any useful information leading to an arrest.