Suspect: Saudi Collector Wanted Art
By ALAN CLENDENNING – 4 hours ago
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A suspect in last month's brazen theft of two paintings by Pablo Picasso and Candido Portinari told detectives the paintings were to be delivered to a Saudi collector, authorities said Friday.
Picasso's "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch" and "O Lavrador de Cafe" by Portinari, an influential Brazilian artist, were stolen Dec. 20 from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art by three men who used a crowbar and car jack to force open one of the museum's steel doors.
The framed paintings were found Jan 8., covered in plastic and leaning against a wall in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, South America's largest city.
The suspect, Moises Manoel de Lima Sobrinho, who briefly hosted a cooking show on a local TV channel, provided the information after he turned himself in Thursday, but a public safety department spokeswoman said she did not know whether Lima Sobrinho named the Saudi collector. She declined to be identified in keeping with department policy.
Police have also said that Lima Sobrinho could provide information needed to catch those who ordered the theft.
Two other suspects are in custody, one of them an escaped convict. Still at large are the owner of the house where the paintings were found and the person or persons who ordered the heist.
Art experts estimate the value of the Picasso at about $50 million and the Portinari at $5 million to $6 million.
Associated Press Writer Stan Lehman contributed to this report.
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A suspect in last month's brazen theft of two paintings by Pablo Picasso and Candido Portinari told detectives the paintings were to be delivered to a Saudi collector, authorities said Friday.
Picasso's "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch" and "O Lavrador de Cafe" by Portinari, an influential Brazilian artist, were stolen Dec. 20 from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art by three men who used a crowbar and car jack to force open one of the museum's steel doors.
The framed paintings were found Jan 8., covered in plastic and leaning against a wall in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, South America's largest city.
The suspect, Moises Manoel de Lima Sobrinho, who briefly hosted a cooking show on a local TV channel, provided the information after he turned himself in Thursday, but a public safety department spokeswoman said she did not know whether Lima Sobrinho named the Saudi collector. She declined to be identified in keeping with department policy.
Police have also said that Lima Sobrinho could provide information needed to catch those who ordered the theft.
Two other suspects are in custody, one of them an escaped convict. Still at large are the owner of the house where the paintings were found and the person or persons who ordered the heist.
Art experts estimate the value of the Picasso at about $50 million and the Portinari at $5 million to $6 million.
Associated Press Writer Stan Lehman contributed to this report.
Art Hostage comments:
Memo to FBI Icon Robert Wittman
Bob, finish your dinner, Prince Waleed has some of the Gardner art, as I told you a year ago, and is ripe for a deal, to make the Brazil Picasso thing go away.
Get in quick before Prince Waleed contacts President Bush Senior for help, via Prince Bander, old family friend and all that.
Sorry Mrs Wittman, this is the third time Bob has had to leave his dinner.
Once you have recovered some of the Gardner art from Prince Waleed, you then hop over to Russia, Moscow and recover the Rubens, Tarquin and Lucretia, from Semion Mogilevich, Semi will give this as a sweetener, then hand over what pieces he has from the Gardner Museum.
This just leaves Jean-Marie Messier and our dear friend Sumner Redstone, Hollywood's Dr No, playing opposite Steven Spielberg's Dr Yes.
Bob, you might come across some stolen large diamonds, from Paris that Semion has in a bank as well as other high value stolen diamonds from Harry Winston etc.
Blimey Bob, you are clocking up the air miles and your carbon footprint is like that of Bigfoot !!
The rise of FBI Agent Robert Wittman to Iconic status has only been possible due to the support of Mrs Wittman, who is left with many an unfinished dinner.
Saudi Dr No
The Saudi Dr No in the frame for the Brazil Picasso theft is none other than Prince Waleed, full name, Prince Al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who Art Hostage revealed last year as being in possession of some of the stolen art from the Gardner Museum in Boston.
See backstory below:
Art Hostage has much more to add, as you can imagine, but is tired today as the M.A. Graduation has taken its toll.
Not to miss the story about dear old Semion Mogilevich getting arrested in Moscow, now this should lead directly to the recovery of the Stolen Rubens held by Semi, as well as many other stolen artworks, held as bargaining chips.
Much more to come over the weekend !!
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