Paris: they had stolen eight paintings with a total value of 2 million euros

Two women and a man, aged 27 to 73, were indicted Thursday in Paris for concealment of thefts before being released under judicial supervision.

This trio, among which would be a Parisian lawyer, is suspected of having helped burglars to sell eight paintings worth 2 million euros.

It was on the night of July 27 to 28, 2020 that the theft was committed in an apartment in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.

The victim, a 75-year-old Englishwoman, had discovered when she woke up that air lifts had entered her apartment while she was asleep.

A lawyer suspected of concealment

The thieves got hold of eight master paintings, including one signed by Pierre Soulages - which alone is worth more than 500,000 euros.

“The others are lesser known painters: Gerhard Richter, André Lanskoy, Jean Fautrier, André Loth and Hans Hartung.

The thieves had also stolen 3,000 euros of gold jewelry and a little cash, ”says a source close to the case.

Investigators from the criminal police brigade of banditry are responsible for carrying out the investigations and manage to identify this team of burglars, who are arrested in early August in Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine) and in the nineteenth arrondissement of Paris.

Five paintings found during searches

While in police custody, these three men, aged 30 to 34, all known to the police, remain silent.

They are indicted before being imprisoned.

During the searches, the police found five paintings, including the Soulages, before tracking down the receivers and the three missing paintings.

At the beginning of last week, the police arrested the mother of one of the first suspects, an accomplice and a Parisian lawyer.

"This forty-something would have served as an intermediary for the sale of one of these paintings", specifies the same source.

During her hearings, she maintains that she did nothing but "render service to her acquaintances".

All of the paintings were returned to the victim.