Seven people were sentenced Tuesday, July 5, in Paris, to sentences ranging from suspended to four and a half years in prison, for having participated in the theft or concealment of eight paintings, including two Soulages, belonging to a septuagenarian.
The heaviest sentence was pronounced against Tarik H., 35, convicted of aggravated robbery and criminal association.
Already convicted 22 times, he was absent in court on Tuesday July 5: an arrest warrant was issued against him.
On the night of July 27 to 28, 2020, thieves had entered through the open window of an apartment in the fifth arrondissement of the capital, arriving in the bedroom of the 75-year-old owner who was then asleep.
Well informed by the
"dealer of a large art gallery"
and numerous scouts, the team took away eight paintings, jewelry and a bust of the deceased husband of the victim, for a total value estimated at two million dollars. euros.
Among the works targeted, those of Pierre Soulages, whose studio is located in the same building, André Lanskoy, Gerhard Richter, Hans Hartung and Jean Fautrier.
Arrested thanks to the surveillance cameras of the city of Paris, the testimonies of neighbors and a photo taken by one of them, the accomplices yielded under the pressure of police custody and returned six of the eight master paintings, the last two were discovered by the police during searches.
Robber's lawyer also convicted
The court pronounced more lenient sentences than the requisitions of the prosecution who had requested during the trial, in mid-June, sentences of one to six years in prison.
The second defendant convicted of theft, aged 27, was sentenced to 20 months in prison with continued detention.
The mother of Tarik H., 74, also prosecuted, was sentenced for aggravated concealment, with 18 months of imprisonment, 12 of which are firm, to be served under an electronic bracelet (after revocation of a suspended sentence pronounced in 2019).
Tarik H.'s former lawyer was given a 5-month suspended prison sentence for concealment after accepting one of the paintings as a gift.
She had justified this skid by the panic fear that her former client would have inspired in her.
Three young men were finally seen inflicting, for association of criminals or concealment, from three to six months firm under electronic bracelet.
All will have to pay jointly approximately 8,800 euros to the victim for material and moral damages as well as 4,500 euros in legal costs.
