[MSN] Prime Minister has suggested a reclusive collector may have organised the heist. Is this statement based on facts?

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

"Prime Minister has suggested a reclusive collector may have organised the
heist"

Statements like these return again and again after major art heists take
place. However, this 'reclusive collector' has never been found. It is quite
well possible that thieves know which fence will be eager to buy stolen
objects, and that fences even place orders, but a 'reclusive collector'?
A collector who can afford to have cultural objects stolen to order will
find himself in a very difficult position when criminals start blackmailing
him.
What will he do when these objects are stolen from him? Report this theft to
the police? The 'reclusive collector' even 'organising the heist' will never
be able to show off with his collection.
I wonder on which information the New Zealand Prime Minister based his
statement. Or did he just see one crime movie too many?

Ton Cremers
 


Medal thieves bashed through fire escape during heist
Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:40p.m.    


3 News have learned details about the way the VC medal thieves first tried
and then failed to get inside the army museum at Waioura.

The thieves were said to have tried to drill their way into the museum.

But when that failed, they resorted to brute force and bashed their way in.

Alison Jones and Ngaire Fryer have worked at the museum for a number of
years and feel almost personally robbed and assaulted.

The thieves bashed their way through a fire escape, after failing to drill
through the lock of a door.

The thieves reportedly performed a reconnaissance of the building at an
earlier time, measuring the position of the lock from the inside.

The museum burglars are likely to have been caught on the cameras at the
museum entrance when they initially arrived to plan their raid.


Medal raid took just four minutes
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:11p.m.  
Police dusting for prints at the Waiouru Army Museum
   


Police have brought in extra officers today as their hunt for the precious
war medals steps up.

Border control and Interpol are on high alert following the smash and grab
which took just four minutes.

Among the hundreds of stolen medals are nine Victoria crosses, two George
crosses and an Albert medal.

The most significant medal taken in the heist belonged to Charles Upham, New
Zealand's most decorated soldier.

All the medals taken belonged to soldiers working for the New Zealand
defence force and date back as far as the 1899 Boer War.
 
There is speculation today that the medals were stolen to order. The Prime
Minister has suggested a reclusive collector may have organised the heist.

It is thought the medals could make millions of dollars on the black market.

The army says the stolen medals would be difficult to sell as they are
highly identifiable and are engraved with the recipients' names.

http://www.tv3.co.nz/