British government scraps key database
It was supposed to be a crucial element in helping to enforce the new Dealing in Cultural Objects Act
By Martin Bailey

LONDON. The British government has quietly dropped plans for a database of stolen art and antiquities, although this was a key element in helping to enforce a new law. The Dealing in Cultural Objects Act came into force at the beginning of 2004, and the government then advised dealers that consulting the projected database should be part of the “due diligence” process, to help establish that they were not knowingly handling tainted objects.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) warned the trade last year that in cases of suspected breaches of the new law, “a failure to consult the database [once established] would be a further evidential factor in determining whether the accused knew or believed that an object was tainted.”

The pilot “Database of stolen and unlawfully removed cultural objects” was to have been available in April 2004.

Following inquiries from The Art Newspaper, DCMS has admitted that it and the Home Office has decided “not to progress” the database. It said an independent appraisal had reached three conclusions: a database would not have a significant effect on reducing crime, the long-term sustainability of the database could not be assured, and there were question marks over how much demand there would be for such a database.

The U-turn is surprising, given DCMS’s commitment to the scheme in the build-up to the Dealing in Cultural Objects Act. The database had originally been a major recommendation in the 2000 report of the Illicit Trade Advisory Panel, chaired by Professor Norman Palmer. However, the scheme needed support from the Home Office, which does not regard the recovery of art and antiquities as a priority. The database would have been expensive—and the question was whether it should be primarily funded by the government or the trade.

Professor Palmer admits that he is disappointed with the news. He says that some members “were outraged, with disbelief that this policy decision had been taken without reference to the panel.”

The House of Commons select committee on Culture, Media and Sport was also scathing about the U-turn. “We are dismayed not so much by the decision itself—although it does seem to fly in the face of the evidence we received (not least from the Government)—but by the sheer amount of time it has taken to be made.”

Last month the British Art Market Federation, representing the trade, pointed out that a nationally-run database, subsidised by public funds, would have represented “a major deterrent against art crime.”

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=11791

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FBI sets up first national art theft squad in US
The eight-member team will model itself on similar units in Italy, France and Spain

By Jason Edward Kaufman

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has set up the first national art theft unit in the US. The eight-member Rapid Deployment National Art Crime Team (ACT) consists of two agents in New York, two on the West Coast, one in Philadelphia, and three in the middle of the country. Each will oversee cases in an assigned region, collaborating as necessary, with investigations coordinated from headquarters in Washington, DC.

“We’re going to be working on consignment fraud, fakes, and interstate traffic in stolen property”, says Philadelphia-based Special Agent Robert K. Wittman, the team’s senior investigator. His team’s mission is “to investigate and bring to successful prosecutions those who steal and deal in stolen art and antiquities and to recover those art objects”. The FBI would not disclose how much money is going into the initiative, but Special Agent Wittman says, “The budget will be adequate to do what we need to do”.

When asked why the FBI has set up the new unit, a spokesman for the agency said: “One of the driving factors was the looting of the National Museum in Baghdad. Orders were issued from senior executive management to approach this in a manner consistent with that of our international partners”. France, Spain and Italy all have dedicated art-theft divisions, Special Agent Wittman says, “but the US—the biggest consumer country in the world for art—has never had one. Now the FBI recognises the need for this type of team”.

The Department of Justice has assigned two special prosecutors to assist the art theft unit: Robert Goldman, assistant US attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Jane A. Levine, assistant US attorney in Manhattan. They will advise other US attorneys and local law enforcement officers, give opinions as to whether or not there is a violation of federal law, and prosecute cases if a local prosecutor cannot be found.

The FBI prosecutes art theft under the same laws that apply to thefts of automobiles, jewellery and other consumer items. But as Special Agent Wittman explains, “You can’t investigate stolen art or antiquities the same way you would a stolen tractor-trailer load of DVD players. It requires specialised training and knowledge about antiquities and the art world, how works of art are bought and sold. Also you’re dealing with international borders so you’re going to have to liaise with police departments worldwide”.

Interpol, the international police agency, ranks art theft fourth in international crime, behind arms sales, drug trafficking and money laundering. But after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, US Customs was folded into the newly formed anti-terrorist Homeland Security Office and it disbanded its art unit.

Special Agent Wittman says his team will “cover the whole gamut of cultural property protection, from paintings to Native American material to Iraqi antiquities”. In January, he and his team trained for a week in Philadelphia. Barnes Foundation security director Nicholas D’Agostino tutored the agents on Impressionist paintings, Philadelphia Museum of Art conservator Mark Tucker gave a lecture on conservation techniques, and University of Pennsylvania Museum archaeologist Clark Erickson discussed looting in Peru. The team also met with other industry experts. Further training relating to the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is planned in the Southwest.

“We’ve had one recovery so far”, says Special Agent Wittman, describing the retrieval last November of 85 paintings and sculptures worth $1.5 million stolen from a Saint Louis art storage warehouse. The team is about to announce other recoveries. “We’re interested in information on art thefts”, he adds. “If someone knows a situation that has occurred we wouldn’t mind a phone call. We’re here to work.”

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/artmarket/artmarket.asp

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Is your painting on their website? The FBI is looking for works faked by the Manhattan dealer Ely Sakhai
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking information from the public to help find paintings that may have been forged by New York dealer Ely Sakhai and his office manager Houshi Sandjaby, and then sold through Sakhai’s Manhattan gallery Exclusive Art Gallery, Ltd over the last 15 years. The pair pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges on 13 December, following their indictment for mail and wire fraud in 2003. Sakhai also agreed to pay $12.5 million (£6.6 million), and to hand over 11 paintings believed to be authentic, all to be put into a restitution fund for victims. The sophisticated forgeries were often accompanied by certificates of authenticity and they fooled staff at Christie’s as well as clients in Tokyo and Taiwan who bought directly from Sakhai and Sandjaby. The fakes included expert copies of works by Impressionist, post-Impressionist and modern artists including Marc Chagall, Pierre-August Renoir, Amedeo Modigliani, Paul Klee and others. The FBI has posted images of paintings and prints known to have been forged by Sakhai on its website. Versions which may be on the market or in private hands are also online. Anyone in possession of such a work, or with information about forged works is urged to call the FBI’s Brooklyn-Queens office Tel: +1 718 286 7100. The FBI art theft website is: www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/noticerecov.htm

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/artmarket/artmarket.asp

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Matthias Arnold
(Art-Eastasia list)

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