The $ 500 million picture theft was made into a movie by Netflix

When the theft of 13 paintings, including 2 paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer painters, took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, USA on March 18, 1993, painting experts said this. is the biggest picture theft in history. 28 years have passed, the total value of the paintings has reached 500 million USD and despite a series of theories and studies on the identity of the perpetrators, the motives and methods of the crime, and the whereabouts of the works were lost … but the FBI still has not been able to solve this case.
The Gardner Museum is still offering a $ 10 million bonus to anyone who can provide information on the case. On April 7, 2021, Netflix released a documentary titled “This is a theft: The most expensive painting theft in the world” …

Cheeky theft All 16,000 paintings, sculptures and ceramics in the Gardner Museum were collected by a woman named Isabella Stewart Gardner. After inheriting a huge fortune from her millionaire father in 1891, she and her husband Jack Gardner – also a millionaire – began to visit Europe, and buy Roman sculptures and vases. antique, paintings by painter Rembrandt. After realizing her collection was very valuable, she built a museum named after her in the hope that it would contribute to “educating and entertaining the public forever”. Empty picture frames at the Gardner Museum Isabella passed away in 1924, and due to the couple’s only child, who accidentally died at a young age, she confiscated the entire museum. However, without the financial patronage of the female millionaire, the Gardner Museum quickly declined. On the evening of March 18, 1993, two police robbers tricked two young night guards, 23-year-old Rick Abath and 25-year-old Randy Hestand, to open the door to the museum on the grounds of investigating a case. Puppet takes place inside. The two security guards had no doubt that March 18 was St. Patrick’s Day, which was an “occasion” for the people of Boston to party and fight. The two thieves quickly restrained Rick and Randy, disabled security cameras and removed the precious paintings from the frame. The two thieves left at 2:45 am, and two security guards were bound and gagged with tape until the other guards arrived at 8:15 a.m. Two thieves took away the most valuable artworks on display at the museum: Rembrandt’s only seascape painting “Storm on the Sea of ​​Galilee”, “Ladies and Gentlemen in Black” as well. by Rembrandt, one of more than 10 paintings surviving to this day by the most talented Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer “The Concert”. In addition, they also stole a self-portrait of the painter Rembrandt, 5 draft drawings by French Impressionist Edgar Degas, a painting by the painter Edouard Manet and when they could not remove the Yellow flag. When Napoleon came down, they took away an antique Chinese bronze jar. Painting “Storm on the Sea of ​​Galilee” painted by painter Rambrandt – the most valuable item of what was stolen When she donated the museum to the city of Boston, Isabella made it clear her condition in her will, presumably to protect her brainchild from merchants, that no one was allowed to sell or donate. Contribute works of art, do not add any new works, and do not rearrange collections, and if these terms are breached, everything, including land. The Gardner Museum built … will be renamed to Harvard University. These strict provisions inadvertently created a major obstacle for the museum’s management: they could not hang other paintings to replace stolen ones, so they had to hang empty frames – like one. how to remind all of the lost treasures. Years passed, and these frames became the most popular “works” here. For Anthony Amore, director of security at the Gardner Museum and chief investigator of the theft, the fact that visitors were more concerned with empty frames than the remaining works made him concerned that Theft will overshadow the real value of the stolen treasures. “The paintings are artifacts of hundreds of years ago, to demonstrate a past that is not preserved in photographs. With just one ticket, one can see Rembrandt’s brush strokes, and now Now, we don’t maintain museums for money, but because we want to end the tragedy of the missing paintings. ” Theories were put forward for three decades Mr. Anthony investigated the case as detailed and comprehensive as possible, because he believed that if he answered every tip-off email and followed every trace he received, no matter how far away they sounded, he would be. Surely he will find something. Mr. Amore is still working with FBI agent Geoff Kelly, who is in charge of investigating the Gardner burglary. Gardner museum’s security director, Mr. Anthony Amore Mr. Geoff is the latest FBI agent in a series of agents assigned to investigate the case since 1981. Over the past three decades, the FBI has conducted a series of underground investigation campaigns from Miami, USA to Japan. The village is far away, and every time they leave empty-handed. Mr. Witman, a retired FBI agent, believes that the Corsician gang’s line in France that he infiltrated under the guise of an antiques “trigger” in 2006 actually owns the paintings. stolen in 1981. However, since many years have passed, he is not sure if they still keep those treasures. Responding to this clue, Mr. Anthony said that the paintings were not in France. Currently, the FBI has come up with a theory that Anthony is quite confident, that is the artwork stolen by two low-level minions in a criminal organization in Boston. The FBI once believed that Carmello Merlino was holding them because during a 1998 eavesdropping, agents overheard Merlino blabbering that he knew where the spoils were. However, later, when arrested for armed robbery and interrogated by the FBI, he was unable to indicate where the Gardner museum property was hidden. Merlino was sentenced to 47 years in prison, and died in 2005. The FBI and Anthony tracked down two tycoons in Maine, USA in 2003 and almost found the stolen stuff. In 2013, the FBI announced that they knew the identities of both thieves, and that both had passed away. As of now, the paintings may be in New England, USA. Portrait sketch of two perpetrators Geoff maintains his theory: Boston tycoon Whitey Bulger donated the paintings to the Interim Irish Republican Army (IRA) – a paramilitary organization aimed at ending British rule in the North. Ireland, and the IRA have indeed been involved in a number of antiques smuggling. After Bulger was arrested and the museum’s assets have yet to be found, Geoff argued that the two thieves did not follow the IRA’s orders but were still associated with the organization because they committed the crime on St. Patrick’s Day – one Important holidays for the people of Ireland. In addition, it is true that the IRA stole works of art, but they only stole domestic museums, such as the Russborough Museum in Ireland – which has been stolen by the IRA four times in a row. Mr. Anthony also pointed out that there are many works of Rembrandt in Europe, so the IRA does not have to fly to America to cause the crime. Mr. Geoff’s hypothesis was supported by inspector Charles Hill – a member of the committee that had found the picture “Scream” in 1994 – supported. Mr. Charles asserted that gangster Martin Foley, owner of the notorious debt collection company Viper, which has a close relationship with the Rossborough Museum’s painting thief, has “led the way” to two perpetrators selling the items. Gardner Museum items, that’s why Martin knows where the paintings are. Currently, Martin Foley is being sued by the Irish Property Criminal Bureau for owing $ 830,000 in taxes and Charles convinced him that he would be rewarded with $ 10 million, more than enough to pay, if he would declare it all. However, Charles thinks Martin is afraid of being prosecuted by both the FBI and Ireland for possession of fraud. There is another theory about the people behind the theft, which is that two security guards staged the crime. Dutch historian Arthur Brand, who has been dubbed the real-life Indiana Jones, opposes this argument and believes two security guards were not involved in the case. Attempts to solve the case in 2021 The Gardner Museum is currently closed due to the epidemic, but Mr. Anthony still goes to work every day, communicating with all the informants about the case. Over the years, many witnesses have passed away, but Anthony patiently added new findings and reread the tens of thousands of pages of evidence the FBI had provided. This man believes the answer must lie somewhere. Former lawyer Martin Leppo, although he did not search for the paintings, was still unable to stop pursuing the case, partly because so many people contacted him every day. Of course, Mr. Martin also encountered many imposters. For example, in 2019, a woman demanded to meet him and insisted her father was involved in the case, and she knew where the paintings were. But when Mr. Martin asked to see the paintings, she disappeared. “A few days ago someone called me to invite me to Saudi Arabia because he had a clue where the stolen items were, and I told him if he could find it, call me back,” he said. .