FBI agent "ordered" the theft of paintings by Monet and Sisley, a French museum

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An FBI agent "ordered" the theft of paintings by Monet and Sisley, a French museum

Seven people stand trial for the theft of priceless works of art from the Museum of Fine Arts Jules Cheret, located not far from Nice. Their leader accuses FBI agent that he became the customer of the crime.

The criminals may be sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for armed robbery of the museum. The trial will last a week and end on Friday, December 2, in Aix-en-Provence. Counsel leader of the gang try to convince the court that his clients - not hardened criminals, but a victim of machinations of one of the most famous art detective in the world, which prompted them to commit crimes in the hope to reveal the loudest theft in history, according to Telegraph [/URL].
August 5, 2007 by robbers, dressed in blue jumpsuits and ski masks, broke into the poorly guarded Museum of Fine Arts Jules Cheret, located not far from Nice. Their leader, Pierre Noel, Dyumare (Pierre Noël-Dumarais), sent a Colt .45 at the guard, who was sitting behind the counter at the entrance, and at this time of his accomplices shot the picture from the walls and packed them in black garbage bags. Five minutes later, they fled in a blue minivan
Were abducted by two works by Jan Brueghel the Velvet, the son of Pieter Brueghel the "Allegory of Water" and "Allegory of the earth," Alfred Sisley painting 'Poplar alley in Moreh "and" Rocks near Dieppe "by Claude Monet. Their total value reached 22 million euros, but, according to experts, criminals could get for stolen works of art no more than three million.
At the disposal of the French servants of the law was not so much evidence - cigarette butt carelessly tossed by one of the criminals, but the trash bag with fingerprints.
Suddenly help came from the other side of the Atlantic. Robert K. Uittmen (Robert K Wittman), then served as head of the FBI, specializing in crimes related to art (Art Crimes Team), first heard about the missing paintings, under the guise of an American dealer of stolen art is engaged in transportation for criminal syndicates and drug lords. About the paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, he told the Frenchman out of Miami on behalf of Bernard Jean Turney (Bernard Jean Ternus), associated with the Marseilles Mafia.
During his twenty-year career Uittmen found the huge amount of stolen works of art. The total cost he found the cultural and historical treasures, including a military hat of the famous leader of the Apaches Goyakla, went down in history under the name of Geronimo, one of the 14 known originals of the Bill of Rights, with works by Rembrandt, Rodin, and Rockwell, more than $ 300 million.
However, despite his successful business, more than anything else Uittmen wanted to unravel the mystery of the theft of the Boston Museum Isabella Stewart Gardner. In 1990 he disappeared without a trace of 13 works worth $ 500 million, including the gem of the museum - Vermeer Delft painting "The Concert", as well as two of the canvas by Rembrandt and five drawings by Degas.
And once familiar Uimttmena, Terni, nicknamed Sunny, said that perhaps it will have a thread that leads to the stolen Vermeer and Rembrandt.
In order to talk with Sunny, a detective asked him to take a ride on a yacht off the coast of Miami, where a glass of champagne, surrounded by models in bikinis agreed to sell five works to the Colombian drug lord. He promised to pay Sonny with gold and precious stones. Needless to say, and the team, and long-legged beauties were the FBI, but Sonny did not raise the slightest suspicion.
Further events are treated participants stories in different ways. Uittmen said that during the lengthy negotiations on the paintings of Rembrandt and Vermeer, Sonny began to offer other masterpieces, among them works by Picasso, as well as ... paintings stolen in Nice. During transmission of pictures Turney was arrested, and later, with his submission, had been arrested and robbers.
"I knew nothing about the theft of Nice, and even more so, never met with the accused" - said in an interview Uittmen The Telegraph.
However, Louis Depatyuro (Ludovic Depatureaux), representing the interests of the court-Dyumare Noel, argues that the theft of the Museum of Fine Arts Jules Cheret was made actually by order Uittmena that by negotiating a deal with Terni, expressed an interest in Dutch painting.
According to his lawyer, Noel-Dyumare with accomplices committed a crime, focusing on the wishes of Whitman referred to it by Turney. Depatyuro said that his clients were victims of "police provocation" and that he would insist that the relevant charges were filed.
According Uittmena, who is now retired, he was not inspired by an armed robbery, and similar methods of protection - neither more nor less than the recognition of their helplessness.
The court's decision will be announced in the near future.