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"FBI says it knows identity of Gardner art thieves; Names not divulged; trail of Gardner masterworks ended with a sale try a decade ago; investigators cite progress, seek help in cracking 1990 case" by Milton J. Valencia and Stephen Kurkjian | Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent, March 18, 2013
Federal investigators, in an unprecedented display of confidence that the most infamous art theft in history will soon be solved, said Monday that they know who is behind the Gardner Museum heist 23 years ago and that some of the priceless artwork was offered for sale on Philadelphia’s black market as recently as a decade ago.
Then GO GET THEM!
In the most extensive account to date of the investigation, Richard DesLauriers, the FBI special agent in charge of the Boston office, would not identify those involved in the heist, saying it would hinder the ongoing investigation. But he said that knowing the identity of the culprits has “been opening other doors” as federal agents continue their search for the missing artwork.
Though officials did not provide details about the thieves, or say how long they have known their identity, the disclosure seemed to confirm a line of inquiry that emerged last spring. That was when the FBI searched the Connecticut home of a Mafia figure with ties to Philadelphia organized crime.
The heist, in which 13 works of art were taken, was one of the largest property thefts in world history and one of the most sophisticated, a mystery that has become fodder for crime novels and movies.
DesLauriers said that the investigation into the heist has intensified since 2010 and that investigators have since been able to track the artworks from Boston as they changed hands through organized crime circles in Connecticut and Philadelphia, where several were offered for sale roughly 10 years ago. From there, however, the trail went cold.
Monday’s announcement came on the 23d anniversary of the heist as part of a broad public campaign the FBI is initiating to raise awareness about the crime, the artworks, and a $5 million reward for their return, in hope of a new break in the case.
What?
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Inside Job
Now I understand the placement and the prominence. The Globe was tipped off by the FBI that an announcement like this was coming. Unfortunately, all this stuff about knowing who it is, blah, blah, blah, is crap.
Readers, the Globe was and is being used as part of the government's p.r. campaign.
(At this point blog editor sighs and almost cries. It's bad enough the ma$$ media mouthpiece has to lie about wars, the environment, the economy, and other things of important. But now they are being used as a tool of government for a f***ing art heist?)
“We want to make the images of the stolen art and the reward offer known worldwide, loud and clear,” DesLauriers said at a press conference in Boston. “To close the book on this investigation, we need to recover the art and return it to its rightful owner.”
He said the FBI will post images of the stolen art on digital billboards around Connecticut and Philadelphia and will post podcasts about the the artworks and the heist on a new website.
I don't want my tax money being used for this, sorry. Not when Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are being cut.
The information campaign is similar to the one that led to the successful arrest of James “Whitey” Bulger two years ago after 16 years in hiding. Federal investigators had maintained that following Bulger’s arrest, they would turn their focus to the Gardner Museum heist, one of Boston’s great mysteries.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Bulger Book Promotion
Okay, folks. I'll bet the FBI does know where the art is, and one day they will spring it on us with a full headline on the front page of the Globe. If you follow the links, you will find he was living just down the road from the FBI. They were watching him so they could snatch him at a convenient hour and make themselves look like they are solving cases (when they aren't framing patsy plotters for false flags). That whole captured by the cat story just doesn't cut it, sorry. The more outrageous the s*** is the more likely it is a complete lie, sorry.
“I think we’re all optimistic that one day soon the paintings will be returned to their proper place in the Fenway,” said US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, who said she recently visited the museum, noticed the empty frames where the artworks once hung, and realized “the enormous impact of this theft.”
Now they are optimistic.
Two men dressed as Boston police officers conned their way into the museum in the early-morning hours of March 18, 1990, when the city was recovering from St. Patrick’s Day festivities, by telling the security guards they were responding to a report of a disturbance.
The two men then duct-taped the guards, left them in the basement, and stole 13 works of art, including pieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and Manet. The art has been valued at $500 million.
But Anthony Amore, the museum’s investigator and head of security, said the works are priceless because they were left by Isabella Stewart Gardner, and cannot be replaced.
“When any piece is removed from her collection, her larger contribution to society is diminished,” Amore said Monday. “Whenever a significant work of art goes missing, we lose an important part of civilization.”
Believing that the artworks are still in good condition, the museum has offered a $5 million reward for their return, which Amore called the largest private award ever offered in the country. Ortiz has offered the possibility of immunity for anyone who leads investigators to the stolen art.
Is she kidding? Swartz didn't get such a good deal, and he didn't even steal anything.
The investigation has taken multiple turns over the last two decades, but has repeatedly centered on a small group of criminals from the Boston area who had ties to organized crime, including David Turner, Stephen Rossetti, and the late Carmello Merlino, who ran a car repair shop in Dorchester.
A federal informant told authorities in the late 1990s that Merlino was trying to negotiate the return of the stolen art, and FBI agents discussed a return with Merlino directly. He never led authorities to the art, however. Not long after, Merlino, Turner, and Rossetti were arrested in a plot to rob an armored car depot in Easton. They were sentenced to decades in prison. Merlino died in 2005 at 71. Turner, 45, is serving his sentence at the federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., and is slated for release on March 28, 2025. Rossetti, 54, is in Allenwood, Pa., and slated for release April 4, 2044.
Related: Mark Rossetti sentenced to 12 years in prison
Oh, he had a controversial secret relationship with the FBI as a federal informant, huh?
All three men had argued they were set up by an informant on behalf of the FBI and that authorities were using the case as leverage to glean information about the Gardner heist, though they denied having any information.
Seems to be a pattern with them. Keeps them employed though.
The Globe reported last year that investigators recently connected Merlino’s crew to the late Robert Guarente, a Mafia figure whose associations with organized crime figures in Boston, Philadelphia, and Connecticut made him the latest focus of the investigation....
Do I give a s***?
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"Tips pour in on Gardner Museum art theft; 2010 call gave investigation lift" by Milton J. Valencia, Shelley Murphy and Stephen Kurkjian | Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent, March 20, 2013
The FBI and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum received a flood of tips from around the country Tuesday, as new details emerged about the turning point in the investigation of the notorious Gardner Museum heist 23 years ago.
The latest, exhaustive phase in the inquiry is based on a tip that a caller made to authorities in 2010, according to Anthony Amore, the Gardner Museum’s head of security and chief investigator.
That's the "new" details? And I am exhausted with this story.
He said Tuesday that the tip was so fruitful — leading to the announcement that investigators know the identities of the thieves and could trace the art from Boston to Connecticut and Philadelphia — that the FBI has since rededicated significant resources to investigating the heist.
It's what I said above, readers. This a p.r. stunt with the Globe being willing pre$$titutes -- and it's sad.
“That tip, plus thousands of man-hours, led to where we are today,” Amore said.
My tax dollars went for this?
The US attorney’s office in Boston — which earlier this week joined the FBI in saying publicly for the first time that they know the identity of the thieves, although not the current location of the missing paintings — has assigned two prosecutors to the investigation, and they have communicated with investigators in Connecticut and Philadelphia.
“We really have reached a point in the investigation where the whodunit part is over, and now, ‘Where’s the art?’ ” Damon Katz, chief counsel for Boston’s FBI division, said Tuesday. “That’s the only thing we’re focused on in this point of this investigation; it’s finding the art with the public’s assistance.”
Who cares? This isn't something that affects my life, other than the taxes I'm paying to these agents so they can spin their wheels.
Investigators hope that a public awareness campaign they announced Monday — 25 billboards with images of the stolen art went up Monday in Philadelphia — will lead to further tips, in what has been called the final chapter of the investigation.
(Blog editor heaves a heavy, deep sigh)
“I do believe there are people out there who can give us information that will get us to the paintings,” said Amore, who has worked closely with federal investigators.
He added, “Assistance from the public is essential.”
(Blog editor heaves a heavy, deep sigh)
The public awareness effort, which includes a $5 million reward being offered by the museum for the return of the art in good condition, is similar to the campaign that ultimately led to the arrest in June 2011 of James “Whitey” Bulger after 16 years on the lam. With Bulger in custody, public officials have said that their focus has turned toward the Gardner heist, one of the greatest and most sophisticated art thefts in history.
“It’s been 23 years that those paintings have been missing from the museum, and we would like very much to put them back there,” said Katz.
Neither he nor Amore would discuss Tuesday the nature of the tips received.
The theft has captivated the public’s imagination in large part because of the boldness with which it was carried out. Two men dressed as Boston police officers conned their way into the museum in the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, telling the two guards on duty that they were responding to a disturbance.
They tied the guards up with duct tape, left them in a basement, and made their way through the museum, walking off with 13 artworks, including three Rembrandts, a Vermeer, and a Manet. The artworks were valued at $500 million, though they are essentially priceless in that they have become so legendary.
Authorities would not disclose the identities of the people they believe were involved in the heist, saying it would hinder the investigation, but the declaration that some of the works made their way through organized crime circles in Connecticut and Philadelphia has helped to confirm a line of inquiry that has emerged in recent years.
Nothing about the inside job aspect I was treated to on a Sunday morning? Is that because it was just all made up s***?
The latest focus has been on Robert Gentile, a 75-year-old ailing Mafia figure with ties to organized crime in Philadelphia and Boston. His Connecticut home was searched last year in relation to the heist. He was charged with drug dealing and possession of an illegal firearm in what his lawyer called a tactic by the FBI to pressure him to disclose information about the heist.
Gentile, who pleaded guilty and is slated to be sentenced in May, faces a lengthy prison term. His lawyer, Ryan McGuigan, has maintained that Gentile knows nothing about the heist or the whereabouts of the artwork.
But investigators seem to have trained their focus on Gentile in the recent phase of the investigation.
A person with knowledge of the FBI investigation, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the inquiry, confirmed Tuesday that investigators found a list of the art stolen from the Gardner, and the estimated value of the works, during the search of Gentile’s home. The discovery of the list was first reported by The Hartford Courant.
Gentile also had close ties to organized crime figures in Philadelphia and in Boston, including the late Robert Guarente, who has been tied to almost everyone mentioned as a person of interest in the heist.
Guarente, for instance, was close with the late Carmello Merlino, who ran an auto body shop in Dorchester and who, according to FBI reports, once tried to negotiate the return of the artworks. No deal ever came to fruition, and Merlino was later convicted in a scheme to rob an armored car depot in Easton. He said that he was set up by informants and that the FBI was pressuring him for information regarding the Gardner heist. Merlino died in prison in 2005 at age 71.
Two other men were also convicted in the armored car depot scheme and received lengthy prison sentences, though they have denied knowledge of the heist or the location of the artwork. Stephen Rossetti, 54, who is Guarente’s nephew, is slated to be released in 2044, and David Turner, 45, is set to be released in 2025.
Guarente died in 2004 at age 65. His wife has told authorities in recent years that she saw him give Gentile at least one painting some time around 2003, around the time authorities say some of the art was offered for sale in Philadelphia. The wife, however, did not describe the painting as one of the works taken from the Gardner.
This trail is cold as s***, readers, and yet we have been led to believe for three days that..... arrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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"If reward, immunity can restore Gardner paintings, they’re worth it" March 21, 2013
At first, the surprise announcement that the FBI had identified the thieves in the legendary Gardner Museum heist sounded like a dramatic breakthrough — a sign that the 13 lost paintings, missing pieces of Boston’s cultural heritage for 23 years, would soon be returned to their empty frames in the Italianate mansion on the Fenway. Later, when the full impact of the announcement was felt, it seemed a little less hopeful: The FBI could only trace the whereabouts of the paintings up through about 10 years ago, when they were offered for sale. Then the trail went cold. The bureau is showing its hand in hopes that a source might emerge to fill in the gaps.
(Blog editor simply frowns)
Whether this is an expression of confidence or desperation is anyone’s guess, but it’s reassuring to know that the FBI remains deeply committed to finding the paintings. The museum has offered a $5 million reward for fruitful information, an amount that should be high enough to draw out stray accomplices — especially if they suspect the FBI is getting closer on its own — or knowledgeable members of the public.
Oh, I'm so rea$$ured.
This is, of course, similar to the strategy that led to the capture of Whitey Bulger. The FBI’s decision to air ads with images of Bulger and his companion Catherine Grieg ultimately led to the breakthrough that put the notorious gangster behind bars.
So where are the paintings?
In the Gardner case, the FBI will be posting images of the paintings — among them, two world-class masterpieces, Rembrandt’s “Storm on the Sea of Galilee” and Vermeer’s “The Concert” — on digital billboards in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The decision follows the search last spring of the Connecticut home of a Mafia figure with ties to organized crime in Philadelphia. The hope, explained Richard DesLauriers, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Boston office, is to jog the memory of anyone who might have seen the works.
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz has wisely offered the possibility of immunity for any informant who was involved in the theft. Punishing the thieves is secondary to recovering the artifacts, in what would be a moment of joy and civic renewal for Boston.
The perpetrators — who likely are part of a crime syndicate — are nonetheless guilty of a heinous offense: Exploiting the Gardner museum’s uniquely open characteristics.
Did they kill anyone? Did they lie and loot the nation into bankruptcy?
The museum is the vision of one collector, Isabella Stewart Gardner. Her will stipulated that no artwork be moved, a requirement that compromised security. In conning the museum’s guards and stealing the works, the thieves repaid Gardner’s faith and generosity with perfidy. But anyone who, having participated in the crime, now endeavors to restore the works, has a chance to redeem himself or herself. Now is the time for any such person to accept Ortiz’s offer of immunity and make Boston’s cultural scene whole again.
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Also see: Loss of Gardner art has left bitter, lasting impression
UPDATE:
"Thomas McShane, a former FBI undercover art investigator who has written a book about the heist, said he has followed the investigation since his retirement in the mid-1990s, fascinated with the tale. Monday’s announcement has introduced a new intensity, he said. “This was monumental. . . . They’re on the trail,” he said. “If they’ve had this information, they believe they know who these two guys are, I believe they may have something up their sleeve and maybe they want to put more pressure up there.”
Like a painting or two?
McShane's the guy that fingered the guards as being in on it.
