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What always amazes me is the extreme difficulty these guys must face when fencing their stolen loot. It's not as if you can sell a few Rembrant's in some isolat

What always amazes me is the extreme difficulty these guys must face when fencing their stolen loot. It's not as if you can sell a few Rembrant's in some isolated parking lot and recoup their multi-million dollar value. Granted there's always some may have been stolen on order [1], but for the rest, they would be more or less unsellable. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Stewart_Gardner_Museum_theft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Stewart_Gardner_Museu...

Panzer04 3y ago
Interestingly enough, this guy solves that problem by... not selling it. Which rather defeats the point I'd imagine, for most thieves.
JacobAldridge 3y ago
With apologies for not remembering the article I read, to provide a source… I have read that stolen masterpieces are sometimes used as currency for (high level) criminals. Similar to how Tide bottles were (still are?) used as a value exchange within homeless communities, “I owe you $X00,000 but would you accept this Picasso instead?” passes some stolen art around at a large discount to “market value”.
- zirgs 3y ago
  But why would that Picasso have any value? You can't show it to others and it's difficult to resell it. And if the cops find out that you have it - they will confiscate it.
  - V__ 3y ago
    For the same reason normal paintings have value. You could just by a high-quality print indistinguishable from the original.
    - zirgs 3y ago
      You can resell normal paintings and show them to others. In many cases there's also a reward for any information regarding the stolen artwork. So that makes it even harder to resell those artworks.
  - wincy 3y ago
    Depends on what level of criminal you are. I’m sure there’s some rich criminal boss in Belarus that could certainly get away with displaying it. Maybe later he’ll sell it to Putin for a literal ton of gold bars. Right now the Russians are paying debt by literally flying around airplanes full of gold. Who could do anything about it? The world is a big place and the rule of law we trust to just work in the West is certainly not the norm everywhere.
    - zirgs 3y ago
      True. They could get away with it in countries that aren't friendly with the West and that don't extradite. But the problem is that they could no longer travel to the West. Oligarchs that aren't being sanctioned and aren't being wanted for anything else would probably want to avoid that. Especially now - when the situation in Russia is unstable.
  - whinenot 3y ago
    Ostentatious displays of wealth. The well connected often want you to know how well connected they are.
lb1lf 3y ago
In some cases, the art may also be stolen to divert resources from other investigations, or, for that matter, to use as a bargaining chip with authorities. (When one of Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' paintings was last stolen, it was to force the Norwegian police to divert resources from the investigation of an armed robbery which had been conducted a few months earlier.) I can also see it being a good bargaining chip to have should you find yourself under prosecution. "Oh, it so happens I may be able, through my contacts, to influence whoever stole this priceless work of art to return it to the owners, where it rightfully belongs... Well, at least if I am somewhat motivated, so, what's in it for me?"

Panzer04 3y ago

Interestingly enough, this guy solves that problem by... not selling it. Which rather defeats the point I'd imagine, for most thieves.

JacobAldridge 3y ago

With apologies for not remembering the article I read, to provide a source… I have read that stolen masterpieces are sometimes used as currency for (high level) criminals. Similar to how Tide bottles were (still are?) used as a value exchange within homeless communities, “I owe you $X00,000 but would you accept this Picasso instead?” passes some stolen art around at a large discount to “market value”.

zirgs 3y ago
But why would that Picasso have any value? You can't show it to others and it's difficult to resell it. And if the cops find out that you have it - they will confiscate it.
- V__ 3y ago
  For the same reason normal paintings have value. You could just by a high-quality print indistinguishable from the original.
  - zirgs 3y ago
    You can resell normal paintings and show them to others. In many cases there's also a reward for any information regarding the stolen artwork. So that makes it even harder to resell those artworks.
- wincy 3y ago
  Depends on what level of criminal you are. I’m sure there’s some rich criminal boss in Belarus that could certainly get away with displaying it. Maybe later he’ll sell it to Putin for a literal ton of gold bars. Right now the Russians are paying debt by literally flying around airplanes full of gold. Who could do anything about it? The world is a big place and the rule of law we trust to just work in the West is certainly not the norm everywhere.
  - zirgs 3y ago
    True. They could get away with it in countries that aren't friendly with the West and that don't extradite. But the problem is that they could no longer travel to the West. Oligarchs that aren't being sanctioned and aren't being wanted for anything else would probably want to avoid that. Especially now - when the situation in Russia is unstable.
- whinenot 3y ago
  Ostentatious displays of wealth. The well connected often want you to know how well connected they are.

lb1lf 3y ago

In some cases, the art may also be stolen to divert resources from other investigations, or, for that matter, to use as a bargaining chip with authorities. (When one of Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' paintings was last stolen, it was to force the Norwegian police to divert resources from the investigation of an armed robbery which had been conducted a few months earlier.) I can also see it being a good bargaining chip to have should you find yourself under prosecution. "Oh, it so happens I may be able, through my contacts, to influence whoever stole this priceless work of art to return it to the owners, where it rightfully belongs... Well, at least if I am somewhat motivated, so, what's in it for me?"