[MSN] Israel. Art thief nabbed when rightful owner spots work in auction catalog.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Art thief nabbed when rightful owner spots work in auction catalog 
 
By Roni Singer-Heruti 
 
Quite a few Tel Aviv police officers can already spot a Menashe Kadishman
painting at a glance, as well as works by Nahum Gutman and Reuven Rubin.
Surely, none thought that his job would require a profound understanding of
art, but over the past few months, fraud squad detectives from the Yarkon
and Ayalon Districts have found themselves dealing with complaints from
members of the art world. 

Yesterday, fraud squad detectives arrested Moshe Michaeli, 37, of Tel Aviv,
who is suspected of paying the painter Emanuel Kipnis with counterfeit money
and receiving 14 art works by Kipnis and Kadishman in return. 

"The possibility never crossed my mind that such an art sting might exist,"
Kipnis told Haaretz yesterday. "The individual came to my home, said that he
has a lot of money and that he needs art works for an event he is holding
for Arcadi Gaydamak. He selected works of mine plus a Kadishman piece I had,
on which he had written a dedication to my son. He paid cash, and I did not
suspect for a moment that it might be counterfeit." 

 
Upon closer examination, Kipnis discovered that the $17,000 the
distinguished buyer had given him was fake, so he asked the man to pay him
some other way. "This time, he gave me two checks, but when I tried to
deposit them at the bank, I was told that the account does not exist," he
said. 

Kipnis chased after the buyer for four months, until the latter severed all
contact. "I realized that he had pulled a sting on me, but I also had a
feeling for some reason that I would eventually manage to get my works
back," he said. Then, about a week ago, the painter received an invitation
from a respected auction house to attend a sale of art works scheduled for
yesterday. Kipnis looked through the catalog, which usually comes out a week
before an auction. "I went to the auction house and was astounded to
discover that Lot 57 in the catalog is the very Kadishman painting that was
dedicated to my son, and was taken from me by that buyer," he said. 

Kipnis promptly brought several acquaintances who confirmed that this was
indeed the painting, and then he went to the police. The detectives, led by
Chief Inspector Moshe Shukri, acted quickly and soon got to the suspect,
Michaeli, whose remand was extended for six days yesterday by the Tel Aviv
Magistrate's Court. 

Investigators will seek to ascertain whether the paintings taken from Kipnis
were ordered by a third party. That is the assumption in the unsolved case
of two valuable Reuven Rubin paintings that were stolen in August from the
Rubin Museum in Tel Aviv. The Rubin paintings, dating from the 1920s, are
estimated to be worth $300,000 each. Police have long suspected that there
are art lovers and collectors who hire thieves to steal works they desire. 

Last October, thieves broke into the Ryback Museum in Bat Yam and stole six
paintings by Issachar ber Ryback. Police caught the suspects with the six
paintings in their cars, and intelligence led investigators to art lovers
who are suspected of being behind the theft. Since then, however, the case
has not progressed. 
 
http://www.haaretz.com/