[MSN] Met's art theft squad has to go cap in hand: Budget cut leads to vain quest for private backers: Specialist unit accorded every low priority'

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Met's art theft squad has to go cap in hand: Budget cut leads to vain quest
for private backers: Specialist unit accorded every low priority' 

The Guardian
21 April 2007

C Copyright 2007. The Guardian. All rights reserved. 

The dramatic scaling down of Scotland Yard's once renowned arts and antique
squad has left organised criminals free to plunder the nation's heritage,
according to a leading fi ne art insurer. 

Police have sought private money to finance the squad after its annual
budget of some pounds 300,000 was halved earlier this year. But the Guardian
has learned that Scotland Yard has failed to secure a penny from insurers or
auction houses, after months of discussions. 

Britain's art market is second only to the US and experts claim up to pounds
200m worth of stolen art and antiques are sold in the UK each year. INTERPOL
estimates that art theft is the fourth largest organised crime after drugs,
people trafficking and arms. 

Annabel Fell-Clark, chief executive of Axa Art UK, which pays out tens of
millions of pounds a year to reimburse vic- 

tims of art theft, condemned the slashing of the unit's budget. She warned
that scaling down the unit was already having an impact on pursuing art
thieves who target Britain's stately homes and museums. 

iWe have seen that they [the team] are increasingly overstretched and being
treated as a very low priority. At the moment we have very good information
which we are wanting to pass on, which would bring arrests, if not
convictions. But we are not being treated particularly seriously, let's put
it that way. 

iWe want to see criminal gangs brought to justice, and in some instances
lack of interest from the squad has stopped us being able to pursue further
recovery. We want and need to work with the police. 

She said Axa was aware the government was seeking funding for the squad but
the company had decided it would not con- sider paying directly for the
unit, adding that attempts by the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police to
find private sponsors in the art world were shortsighted. 

It would be a conflict of interest for us to get involved, she said. We have
slightly different agendas. As insurers, we are interested in recovering the
pieces however we can, and are not that bothered about finding and
prosecuting the perpe- trators. We are concerned that this aspect of law
enforcement is not taken particularly seriously right now. 

iVery often when you are investigating art theft connections are uncovered
with organised crime in relation to drugs and 

arms dealing, so it doesn't make sense to ignore this aspect of criminal
activity. 

The London based arts squad was formed in 1969 to pursue and prosecute
criminals who operate in the second biggest art market in the world. In the
past the unit, which is called in to investigate 120 cases a year, was
involved in recovery of art works across the world. 

According to art crime sources, officers from the squad worked with Spanish
investigators to help crack one of Europe's most spectacular art robberies -
the theft of 19 paintings valued at pounds 30m from the Madrid penthouse of
Esther Koplowitz, Marquesa of Casa Penalver and Cardenas. 

Other successes include the uncovering of a multimillion pound British
smuggling operation in which precious antiquities and archaeological
artefacts were stolen from Egypt, some of which were sold at 

Sotheby's. 

Last year the unit arrested a gang allegedly responsible for stealing tens
of millions of pounds of art and antiques from 

stately homes over four years, including pounds 30m worth of antiques from
Ramsbury Manor in Wiltshire. 

Mark Dodgson, of the British Antique Dealers Association, said: iThe idea of
Value of stolen art and antiques sold in 

the UK annually, according to expertspounds 200m people in the art world
funding the squad seems wrong. My members pay taxes already, and surely
paying for the police is what their taxes are for. 

Scotland Yard confirmed that as yet no private investors had been identified
to provide the 50% funding required for the unit by the next financial year.