[CPProt.net] Third, and last, painting stolen at armed raid in Stockholm 2000 also recovered (Authorities unveil stolen Renoir painting recovered in LA)

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Authorities unveil stolen Renoir painting recovered in LA

JULIET WILLIAMS
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A dramatic art heist with a plot that police likened to a
James Bond movie had a Hollywood twist: the recovery of a priceless painting
in Los Angeles.

The FBI said Friday that agents had recovered Renoir's "Young Parisian"
about six months ago in an undisclosed location in the city.

It was one of three paintings stolen by armed and masked robbers in 2000
from the National Museum in Stockholm.

"Works like this are not some expendable commodity. They are priceless
treasures," said Loraine Brown, a special agent with U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement.

The recovery of the Renoir painting, which depicts a young girl, was
revealed after police in Denmark arrested four people - two Iraqi nationals,
a Swede and a Gambian - in a raid Thursday on a downtown Copenhagen hotel.

Posing as an art buyer, an FBI agent met the alleged thieves at the hotel,
where they offered to sell him a stolen Rembrandt for only $100,000, Brown
said. The self-portrait of the artist from 1630 is worth at least $42
million.

The Rembrandt and two Renoirs were taken by robbers from the waterfront
Stockholm museum on Dec. 23, 2000. They made off in a boat moored near the
museum, using distracting tactics such as tire spikes and diversionary car
bombs in other parts of the city.

Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Stephen B. Johnson compared the caper to
a James Bond thriller.

"It's amazing that such a dramatic theft could take place in Sweden and end
up on the streets of Los Angeles County," he said.

An investigation of an international crime ring operating in Southern
California led authorities to the painting, FBI Special Agent in Charge Jody
Weis said.

He declined to reveal further details about how it was recovered, saying
there was an ongoing investigation into related crimes. Authorities said a
criminal syndicate smuggled the painting through Los Angeles International
Airport several years ago.

Weis said the FBI kept the recovery of that painting secret until Friday to
aid the recovery of the Rembrandt. Another Renoir taken in the heist was
recovered in 2001.

Tomas Rosander, the consulate general of Sweden in Los Angeles, called the
paintings a national treasure. He said most Swedes visit the museum at some
point to view the works of art.

In Copenhagen, Chief Superintendent Per Larsen said the Rembrandt was
undamaged and still in its original frame.

Renoir's "Young Parisian" was displayed for the media in Los Angeles. It has
a large scratch in its varnish, but art experts said it was superficial and
could be fixed.

Scott Schaefer, the curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum, was
brought in to authenticate the painting. He said he wasn't surprised the
Renoir made it to California.

"If you were a thief, it would seem to me you would go where the money is,
and Los Angeles is apparently a place where there is a lot of money and
people buy a lot of art," he said.

Schaefer said it would be virtually impossible for thieves to sell such
recognizable paintings.

The four men taken into custody in Denmark were to be charged with
possession of stolen goods and will face a custody hearing.

"Then we will have them extradited to Sweden," Larsen said.

The second Renoir painting was recovered when a police officer posed as an
art expert who wanted to buy back the paintings for the Stockholm museum.

Thirteen people were charged in that part of the investigation, and most
were later sentenced to prison.

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