Major Art Heist On East Coast Solved In Southern California
BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Millions of dollars worth of paintings stolen in Maine had been found at a Beverly Hills pawn shop. Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a reward to help recover the rest of the N.C. Wyeth stolen art.
Six N.C. Wyeth paintings were stolen from a home in Maine in 2013. Four were recovered in December.
Yossi Dina stars in "Beverly Hills Pawn," which is known for selling high-end goods. He recently became the center of an art heist case the FBI cracked.
Dina said 37-year-old Oscar Roberts "gave me two pieces first. And then he came with the other two pieces." The art dealer said the paintings came into his store unframed and have sustained damage. Therefore, their value has dropped.
"People would be not smart to sell hot stuff to places like this. We report everything. We have to report it," said Dina.
Roberts has been sentenced to 28 months in federal prison after trying to fence the four stolen Wyeth paintings, estimated to be worth up to $2 million.. "He say he know the owner. But I find out he never know the owner," Dina said.
The FBI said it got a tip that the art work was being moved from New England to Southern California late last year.
The investigation led to Beverly Hills, where the pawn slips for the four paintings landed in detective specialist Michele Fieler's hands.
Fieler cross-referenced the information on the pawn slips with an FBI database and got multiple hits. The paper work led to Roberts and two other men who have been convicted in the case.
"We average about 2,000 pawn slips a month at the Beverly hills police department which Michele looks at," said David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office.
The FBI is now offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the two paintings that are still missing.
FBI Special Agent Elizabeth Rivas said the person responsible for taking them remains a mystery.
Bowdich said the remaining stolen paintings could be anywhere in the world and take decades to find.