One of the 13 missing paintings, Edouard Manet's "Chez Tortoni", 1878–1880.
Yesterday the FBI revealed new information in a case involving one of the largest and skilled art heists in history. 23 years ago, 13 paintings including those by Degas, Vermeer, and Rembrandt were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum by thieves posing as Boston police officers.
The FBI claims they now know who did it. Richard DesLauriers of the FBI’s Boston office says the culprits are “members of a criminal organization with a base in the Mid-Atlantic states and New England.” The press release doesn’t name names, and under the statute of limitations, they can’t legally apprehend these thieves. Despite this setback, they’re continuing to step up their efforts to retrieve the missing paintings.
The FBI has revealed that Robert Gentile, an alleged mobster currently serving prison time on drugs and weapons charges, has ties to the original heist. Last Thursday, they searched his home for firearms, but according to Gentile’s lawyer Ryan McGuigan “[T]hey are really looking for paintings.”
Having failed to recover the paintings so far, they’re reiterating the $5 million reward for knowledge leading to the paintings’ whereabouts, which they’ve made known on a new website devoted to the case.
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Okay, if no one else will say it, I guess I have to. They are being framed.
Thank you, thank you.
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