Robert Wittman - Priceless

I never worked alone—it was always a team effort. And while no list of street agents would be complete, I would be remiss not to mention a few who were and are dearest in my heart. First is Stephen J. Heaney, a talented and dedicated investigator and my surrogate little brother, who always had my back when organizing undercover sting takedowns in Philadelphia. Thanks also to Special Agents Doug Hess, Pam Stratton, Michael A. Thompson, Jay Heine, Mitch Banta, Judy Tyler, Konrad Motyka, Sean Sterle, Alejandro Peraza, Gary Bennett, Chris Calarco, Eric Ives, Bob Bazin, Joe Majarowitz, Frank Brostrom, Cathy Begley, Brian Midkiff, Amanda Moran, Lou Vizi, Jack Garcia, Tom Duffy, Jesse Coleman, Al Bodnar, J. J. Klaver, Martin Suarez, Henry Mercadal, Vince Pankoke, Mike German, Jason Richards, Tim Carpenter, Jim Wynne, Johanna Loonie, Greg Johnson, Joaquin “Jack” Garcia, Marc Barri, Leo Tadeo, Ron Kozial, and Ron Nolan. In the front office, Jerri Williams, R. J. Saturno, John Thomas, and Ron Hosko were always friends and often advocates. At FBI headquarters, Lynne Richardson and Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, who managed the art-theft program, deserve kudos for trying to keep the program alive by continuing to stir the pot with managers.

Special thanks to my other comrades in law enforcement: prosecutor Maureen Barden, who taught me the ropes and also how to be compassionate; the trio on the jewelry theft gang case—prosecutor Chris Hall and police officers Edward Quinn and Jack Quinn—who taught me how to really conduct a criminal investigation; Fish and Wildlife Special Agent Lucinda Schroeder, for her excellent undercover work in the Joshua Baer and Geronimo war bonnet cases; police Col. Pierre Tabel, the former chief of the French national art crime team; French police officer Damien Delaby; Karl Heinz-Kind and Fabrizio Rossi of Interpol; Gen. Giovanni Nistri, chief of the Italian art crime team; Col. Matthew Bogdanos of the U.S. Marines; and Vernon Rapley and Gary Oldman of Scotland Yard.

I also wish to thank the civilians who helped me during my career—men and women who care deeply about preserving art and antiquities for future generations: Herbert Lottier and Mark Tucker of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Bob Combs and Wilbur Faulk of the Getty Museum, Ron Simoncini of the Museum of Modern Art, J. J. McLaughlin of the Smithsonian Institution, John Burelli of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dick Drent of the Van Gogh Museum, Dennis Ahern of the Tate Museums, Anthony Amore of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Milton Esterow of ArtNews , Renee Bomgardner at the Barnes Foundation, Kristen Froelich at the Atwater Kent Museum, Clark Erickson, C. Brian Rose, Pam Kosty, Therese Marmion, and Steve Epstein at the University of Pennsylvania, Charlene Bangs Bickford of the First Federal Congress Project, Stephen Harmelin of Dilworth Paxson LLP, Walter Alva of the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum, Andy Newman of Newman Gallery, Carl David of David Gallery, art dealer George Turak, Bo Freeman of Freeman Fine Arts Auction House, Bill Bunch of William Bunch Auctions, Robert Crozier, William O’Connor and the ICEFAT community, Sharon Flesher of the International Foundation of Art Research, and Chris Marinello and Julian Radcliffe of the Art Loss Register .

To the world’s three best lawyers, Mike Pinsky, Bob Goldman, and Dave Hall: Thank you, counselors. I wouldn’t have accomplished anything without you.

Finally, to my friend Denis Bozella, whom I think about every day.

Robert K. Wittman

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

JOHN SHIFFMAN WOULD also like to thank Bill Marimow, Vernon Loeb, Tom McNamara, and Avery Rome in Philadelphia; Tom Mashberg in Boston; Vincent Noce and Aline Magnien in Paris; Eleni Papageorgiou in Milan; Blythe Bowman Proulx in Richmond; and Caitlin Lukacs and Brooke Shearer in Washington. Thanks also to my terrific writing and traveling partners, Bob and Donna Wittman. To Peter Franceschina, grazie mille . Special thanks to Paul, Sevah, Belle, Will, Jake, Nick, and Sam. Cathy is, of course, priceless.

ROBERT K. WITTMAN spent twenty years as an FBI special agent. He helped create and was senior investigator for the bureau’s Art Crime Team. He has represented the United States around the world conducting investigations and instructing international police and museums in investigation, recovery, and security techniques. He is president of the international art security firm Robert Wittman Inc. Contact him at www.robertwittmaninc.com

JOHN SHIFFMAN is an investigative reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer . A lawyer and former associate director of the White House Fellows program, he has won a dozen journalism awards and was a 2009 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Contact him at www.johnshiffman.com

Robert K. Wittman is available for select readings and lectures. To inquire about a possible appearance, please visit www.rhspeakers.comor call 212-572-2013.

Copyright © 2010 by Robert K. Wittman

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.crownpublishing.com

CROWN and the Crown colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wittman, Robert K.

Priceless : how I went undercover to rescue the world’s stolen treasures / Robert K. Wittman.—1st ed.

p. cm.

1. Wittman, Robert K. 2. Art thefts—Investigation. I. Title. II. Title: How I went undercover to rescue the world’s stolen treasures.

N8795.5.W58W58 2009

364.16′287—dc22 2009049083

eISBN: 978-0-307-46149-0

v3.0

This changed in August 2009, long after this case ended.

To protect the safety of certain individuals, references to this group are intentionally vague.