Update !!Only three pictures may have been recovered along with a ransom note saying this was as a protest at Kosovo declaration of independence.
The most valuable, the Cezanne, worth $100 million plus, could still be be held Art Hostage.
Diplomatic activity is reaching fever pitch as this art theft takes on a political dimension.
Breaking news: Kosovo Independence Triggers Swiss Art Recovery, Heist was Serbian protest !!
They have been recovered, Seems Crazy, how Mental is that !!!
Report: Swiss police find paintings stolen in Zurich art heist
http://www.pr-inside.com/report-swiss-police-find-paintings-stolen-r443397.htm
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - A Swiss radio station reported Monday that paintings stolen in one of Europe's largest art thefts have been discovered on the grounds of a Zurich mental hospital.
The area around the Psychiatric University Clinic was closed off Monday evening, and Zurich police spokeswoman Judith Hoedl said that a suspicious vehicle had been
found.
She declined to say whether it was connected with the Feb. 10 robbery from a Zurich museum.
The stolen works by Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh and Monet from the private E.G. Buehrle Collection are worth 180 million Swiss francs (US$163.2 million; ¤112.4 million).
Local radio station Radio 24 reported Monday that the building supervisor at the hospital found the paintings in an unlocked car on the grounds of the clinic.
The station said the area was cordoned off by police, and a switchboard operator confirmed to The Associated Press that the police were there, but that she was not allowed to say what was happening.
A witness told Radio 24 that paintings removed from the vehicle had markings that identified them as belonging to the Buehrle museum.
Art Hostage comments:
News coming in all the time
One things for sure, as I write, FBI Icon Robert Wittman is sitting in the departure lounge waiting for his flight out of Zurich.
This latest recovery is all in a days work for the "King of Sting, Master of Disaster" FBI Art Crime Icon Robert K. Wittman.
Mrs Wittman is about to prepare Bob's dinner for when he gets home in about 12 hours.
Meatloaf, or Stew, slowly cooked to tenderise the meat and thicken the gravy.
More to follow.
http://www.pr-inside.com/report-swiss-police-find-paintings-stolen-r443397.htm
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - A Swiss radio station reported Monday that paintings stolen in one of Europe's largest art thefts have been discovered on the grounds of a Zurich mental hospital.
The area around the Psychiatric University Clinic was closed off Monday evening, and Zurich police spokeswoman Judith Hoedl said that a suspicious vehicle had been
found.
She declined to say whether it was connected with the Feb. 10 robbery from a Zurich museum.
The stolen works by Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh and Monet from the private E.G. Buehrle Collection are worth 180 million Swiss francs (US$163.2 million; ¤112.4 million).
Local radio station Radio 24 reported Monday that the building supervisor at the hospital found the paintings in an unlocked car on the grounds of the clinic.
The station said the area was cordoned off by police, and a switchboard operator confirmed to The Associated Press that the police were there, but that she was not allowed to say what was happening.
A witness told Radio 24 that paintings removed from the vehicle had markings that identified them as belonging to the Buehrle museum.
Art Hostage comments:
News coming in all the time
One things for sure, as I write, FBI Icon Robert Wittman is sitting in the departure lounge waiting for his flight out of Zurich.
This latest recovery is all in a days work for the "King of Sting, Master of Disaster" FBI Art Crime Icon Robert K. Wittman.
Mrs Wittman is about to prepare Bob's dinner for when he gets home in about 12 hours.
Meatloaf, or Stew, slowly cooked to tenderise the meat and thicken the gravy.
More to follow.
So, anyway, there I was briefing FBI Icon Robert Wittman on how to get the Swiss paintings back, when a flash of inspiration, caused me to exclaim
"Bob, if we say to these guys they will not get money but can gain some credibility in Serbia by handing back the paintings and declaring the theft as a protest at Kosovo declaring independence"
"Brilliant," says Bob, "I'll get on it"
So, this theft will turn out as a protest at Kosovo declaring independence and it will be used by the Serbian exiles as a bargining chip that will allow them free access to conduct criminality from Serbia and also be able to hide criminal profits away from pursuing law enforcement.
As ever, Bob Wittman ran with this, did not drop the ball, and low and behold, Kosovo declares Independence, day after the Swiss Four re-appear.
Did you like the Mental Hospital touch ?
Could'nt find a suitable Catholic Church Confession box in time.
So, anyway, what about those bloody Picasso's ??
O'h and not forgetting the paintings stolen yesterday, Sunday, see below:
There has been another art robbery in the canton of Zurich. Eleven paintings worth CHF300,000 have been stolen from an apartment in Kilchberg, after thieves forced their way in through a balcony door.
Twenty works from the 19th century worth almost CHF500,000 were taken from the same building at the end of last month.
There is still no sign of the Picasso oil paintings stolen in nearby Pfäffikon recently.
http://www.worldradio.ch/wrs/news/rundown/swiss-news-at-a-glance-63.shtml?10379
2 comments:
I thought only TWO of the paintings were recovered? Is there some new news? I thought it was an interesting tidbit, too, that the recovery was made at a mental institution!
Jennifer,
When the inside news came in it stated that the Cezanne was still being held Art Hostage that is why it was thought three paintings were recovered initially.
It turns out that the Degas and Cezanne remain Art Hostages.
However, the next step is the return of the Degas as another show of good faith by the criminals, before the Cezanne is finally recovered, if the Dane-geld deal is successful.
Art Hostage still believes the offering of a media statement about Serbian/Russian disquiet about Kosovo independence is a much better route to conclude this and other recent art heists.
The Serbian protest route also gives each side, good guys and bad guys, a chance to save face and allows the stolen art to return without payment of reward, well not publicly anyway.
Post a Comment