it seems crazy to me to steal a famous painting from a museum. the number of people willing to purchase a black market painting worth ~$millions is probably like a dozen, and the transaction would be super high risk. so many easier crimes to commit.
tonyedgecombe•54m ago
For a while members of the mafia we’re stealing them to trade against their sentence if they got caught for some other crime.
SoftTalker•7m ago
Admit to additional crimes in exchange for a lighter sentence? How does that work?
goodcanadian•2m ago
I doubt they admit to anything, but having some information that helps lead to the recovery of a valuable item could be worth something. To be honest, this is the first I have heard of the practice, but it sounds plausible to me.
DASD•1m ago
Crime gravity. If able to provide the solution to a crime that is considered more serious.
dennyabraham•6m ago
The numbers are higher than you'd expect. The trade in illegal (and so high rarity and limited access) goods is ongoing and flourishing via the use of third party intermediaries like free port systems [1] as well as networks of morally grey curatorial and preservation staff. Several notable archaeological "missing links" of the past few years came from said staff mediating access to private collections of undescribed provenance.
john_strinlai•1h ago
tonyedgecombe•54m ago
SoftTalker•7m ago
goodcanadian•2m ago
DASD•1m ago
dennyabraham•6m ago
[1] https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2015/07/01/experts-identify-...