Displaying items by tag: Stolen Goods

James Meyer, a former studio assistant to the contemporary artist Jasper Johns, was arrested on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 for stealing 22 unauthorized works, which he then sold through an unnamed art gallery in Manhattan. Meyer, who worked at Johns’ studio in Connecticut from 1985 to 2012, made $3.4 million off of the sales, which totaled $6.5 million.

Meyer was assigned to protecting the works that Johns did not want sold but ended up creating fake inventory numbers and false documents for the paintings, which he photographed inside a binder that catalogued Johns’ authorized works. Meyer told the gallery in New York that he had received the paintings from Johns as a present and offered notarized documents that supported his claim.

Meyer could spend anywhere from 10 to 20 years in prison and has been accused of transporting stolen good across state lines and wire fraud.

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.

A couple caught with 271 Picasso art treasures stashed in their garage are facing up to 10 years in prison after being charged with handing stolen goods.

Pierre Le Guennec, 71, and his wife Danielle, 69, will appear a judge in Grasse, in the south of France, later this month following a criminal investigation.

It began last November when lithographs, cubist paintings, notebooks and a watercolour all worth at least euros 50 million in total were found at their modest home in nearby Mouans-Sartoux.

After Le Guennec travelled to Paris to get the collection valued with a view to selling it, the administrators of Picasso's estate accused him of receiving stolen goods.

But the couple said they were given the works by Picasso’s wife, Jacqueline.

‘Madame gave them to me,’ said Le Guennec.

Le Guennec installed a burglar alarm at Picasso’s luxury villa near Cannes before the artist died in 1973, and said he accepted them as ‘thank you’ gifts.

The legendary artist’s son, Claude Picasso, said that his father was noted for his generosity, but that he always dedicated, dated and signed his gifts, as he knew that some recipients might try to sell the works one day.