Art crime
The hunt for looted Cambodian objects—are they hidden in the West's museums?
Plus, the dark truth of the Marcos family’s extravagance and Ruth Asawa at Modern Art Oxford
NFTs are accelerating the pace of art crime—here's how digital sleuths are sharpening their tools to fight wrongdoers online
Lawmakers must now contend with a new era of discord channels, smart contracts and open-source intelligence to combat cyber criminals
Former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez charged in connection with antiquities trafficking investigation
Martinez has been indicted for “complicity of gang fraud and laundering“ of objects purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Louvre Abu Dhabi
Former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez questioned by police as part of probe into alleged antiquities trafficking ring
Investigation focuses on purchases made by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre Abu Dhabi
Dealer Inigo Philbrick sentenced to seven years in prison
Philbrick pleaded guilty to an $86m fraud in November in one of the art world's highest-profile criminal lawsuits in decades
Pop-up show of 'Soho scammer' Anna Sorokin's prison drawings takes over Manhattan hotel lobby
The one-night event during Frieze Week in New York also gave attendees the opportunity to buy prints of Sorokin's satiric prison sketches
Disgraced dealer Douglas Chrismas ordered to repay $14.2m in profits from art sales
Chrismas, who was arrested by the FBI in 2021, is also facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted in a separate criminal case
FBI repatriates smuggled artefacts, artworks and other objects to Peru
The returned objects include artefacts from the collection of amateur archaeologist Donald Miller, the subject of a high-profile raid in 2014
Crypto collectors beware: why online wallets are increasingly vulnerable to theft
NFTs are a major new economy and with every major new economy, there is a big new scam
Anna Sorokin, art world scammer facing deportation from US, is the star of New York exhibition
The pop-up show ‘Free Anna Delvey’ includes a work Sorokin made in prison, as well as pieces by dozens of other artists
Belgian cuts to art crime policing weaken ‘intelligence gathering’
Decision follows years of uncertainty around dwindling enforcement funding
From Modigliani to Imelda Marcos, museum thefts to market machinations: renowned German investigative reporters present an arresting story of art crime
The authors’ overview of the types of art crime includes serious analysis—and some entertaining tales
Balkan-based looters share tips on Facebook about vulnerable sites, potential buyers and how to escape the law
Illicit trade in cultural heritage finds a home on social networks, study reveals
A swindler’s playground: why is the art market so appealing to fraudsters?
Indian antiquities dealer Monson Mavunkal is currently in custody following a string of fraud allegations, including trying to sell a walking stick he said belonged to Moses. But he is not the first con artist to target the art world
Fraud: the case of Inigo Philbrick
Plus, Warhol’s Catholicism and Moscow’s new museums
Pablo Escobar, Ernest Hemingway and a drug-smuggling NFL player covered in vaseline: new podcast explores the crazy story behind a ceramic that could be by Picasso
Steve Kough also stole three paintings from the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1982—while on trial for conspiracy to distribute marijuana
Trial begins for Spanish museum director accused of spending €3.4m on forged works
Consuelo Císcar, the former director of the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, is said to have bought works attributed to Gerardo Rueda—but that were painted by his son
Art crime flourished during pandemic year, Interpol survey shows
Figures indicate fewer museum thefts, more illegal excavations
Northern Ireland's art market mired in post-Brexit confusion
Experts fear country could become "gateway to Europe for illicit cultural property", while new asset seizure powers—which include art—are being introduced to help criminal investigations into unexplained wealth
A return of the knockers? How criminals gain the trust of the elderly and vulnerable in order to steal their art and antiques
The conviction of the father-and-son duo, Des and Gary Pickersgill, for the thefts of around £1.7m from an elderly widow's home, brings renewed focus on the threat of antique “knockers”
What distinguishes an art criminal from a regular crook?
The host of the Art Bust podcast argues that the nature and purpose of art crime–and by extension, of the art detectives who fight it—has changed in recent years
Secrets and lies: the role of restorers in art crime
Regulation of the conservation profession may be a start, but can it quash the “ego” that often motivates restorers-turned-forgers?
Art world rushes to conform to UK's anti-money laundering laws
So far a total of 475 "art market participants" have been registered—but delays mean more are likely to comply in the coming months
California man admits to selling over $1m in forged art, purportedly by Richard Hambleton and Barkley Hendricks
Jason Harrington pleaded guilty to selling phony paintings to at least 15 galleries and individuals between 2018 and 2020
What the US government sanctions of prominent Bulgarian art collector Vassil Bojkov mean for the art market
Oligarch is blacklisted as countries ramp up regulation and authorities move yet another step closer to the art world
Mexican man arrested by FBI for attempting to sell allegedly fake works by Basquiat and Haring
Angel Pereda was offering paintings and sculptures by the artists to auction houses in New York
Greek police recover Picasso and Mondrian paintings stolen nine years ago in major heist
Authorities have reportedly arrested a man after the paintings were found in a gorge
Interpol launches app to identify stolen art—and it has already been used to discover loot
Spanish police say they used the ID-art programme to successfully spot stolen Roman coins worth €200,000
How a Van Gogh painting was stolen from a Cairo museum—not once, but twice
The Khalil Museum, with its fabled Impressionists in a mansion by the Nile, has reopened after an 11-year renovation—without Vincent’s flower still-life
Dutch police arrest over Van Gogh smash-and-grab raid: how long until the landscape is recovered?
The suspect is linked to a Frans Hals theft, which should help track down paintings from two museums