LAPD Detective Don Hrycyk, Art Theft Detail

One suspect posed as an independent art dealer visiting art galleries to obtain consignments of art to sell. After gaining the trust of a gallery owner, the suspect secreted the paintings out of the gallery during business hours without the owner’s knowledge. Three paintings were taken from the unsuspecting art gallery over the period of two years. 

In August 2008, a burglary at the home in the Encino area of Los Angeles of 9 paintings by artists Hans Hofmann, Lyonel Feininger, Chaim Soutine, Emil Nolde, Marc Chagall, Kees van Dongen, Diego Rivera and Arshile Gorkey resulted in a $200,000 reward offer for information leading to the recovery of the paintings and apprehension of the suspects. 

In 2004, a suspect, a former physician and Harvard professor, was arrested by LAPD’s Art Theft Detail after selling a fake Mary Cassatt painting for $800,000 to undercover officers. The suspect possessed numerous other fake artworks. A few years earlier, the suspect had reported the theft of an artwork by Willem de Kooning valued at $1.5 million yet determined to be a fake and still in the suspect’s possession. The suspect had moved to California following a criminal conviction for selling fake art in Massachusetts in 1989. He was also the subject of a federal civil case alleging sales of fake art in 1985. The suspect used brokers to sell art to private parties and to invest money in his art collection. He avoided major auction houses and art dealers and preyed on people less knowledgeable about fine art. 

In October 2010, a TV auctioneer who from 2002 to 2006 sold $20 million in forged art, including works falsely attributed to Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, was sentenced to five years in prison in a Los Angeles court. Two other conspirators were sentenced to four and seven years for claiming to sell genuine works found in real estate liquidations and forging certificates of authenticity on some artworks sold to more than 10,000 US customers through DirectTV and Dish Network.

Detective Hrycyk: In the mid-1980s, I got tired of working homicide in South-Central L.A. and applied for an opening in a specialized burglary division in downtown L.A. After getting the spot I learned I would be working the newly formed Art Theft Detail. I developed an interest in art theft and art fraud investigations and took over the unit in 1994.

Detective Hrycyk: With only two detectives handling all art-related crimes in a city that is the second largest center for the visual arts in America, our focus is to be able to continue to do quality crime investigations with the resources available. Having a dedicated art crime unit has allowed us to professionalize and develop contacts in the art community that are essential to successful investigations.

Detective Hrycyk: Out of necessity, we handle not only traditional art but also a wide array of historical and cultural property, from Hollywood movie props to rare books and fossils. We just recovered a comic book valued at $1 million. When you think about it, most homes contain either an artwork, antique or collectible. Art theft is often a hidden crime because art objects are stolen all the time in routine burglaries along with cash, jewelry and other personal property. As a result, there are no accurate statistics on the prevalence of art thefts. There is no tracking of art thefts nationally. Added to this is the huge area of art fraud. Combined, these crimes keep us busy all the time.

Detective Hrycyk: In a city as diverse at L.A., smuggled antiquities is bound to be a problem but is primarily handled by federal law enforcement agencies that protect our borders and have international treaty obligations. Sales are often back room, private transactions. However, we often work with the agents from the FBI, DHS, ICE, Interpol and others when we receive actionable intelligence.

Detective Hrycyk: Stolen and fraudulent art often crosses international boundaries so it is important to have contacts in other countries who can work with us on difficult investigations. In a like manner, we often conduct investigations for foreign law enforcement agencies when an L.A. connection develops. It is important to convince thieves and con men that no safe haven exists for those who deal in stolen or fake art.

Detective Hrycyk: Finding the stolen artwork is the biggest challenge. A stolen painting sold in a private sale may hang on a bona fide purchaser’s living room wall for a decade or more before it comes up for sale again in a venue where it will come to our attention.

Detective Hrycyk: We try to ensure that fake artworks never reenter the legitimate marketplace. This is easier said than done. Unlike illicit drugs and counterfeit currency, fake art is not illegal to possess. As a result, there is no consistency in how fraudulent art is disposed of at the conclusion of a criminal case. We have encountered great resistance on the part of judges to authorize the destruction of fake art and some pieces have actually been returned to suspects by the courts.

Detective Hrycyk: Most of the intelligence information I receive about suspicious activities and unsavory characters comes from artists, dealers and galleries that I have established a relationship with over the years. The art community can be very closed mouth unless you are trusted.

Detective Hrycyk: Unfortunately, there are few career opportunities presently available in the United States in the public sector. I get inquiries all the time from people who would love to investigate art crimes but at present, the pickings are slim. It is tough to break into this field. This situation is bound to change but we aren’t there yet.

Detective Hrycyk: Right now, we have an open position in the Art Theft Detail that needs to be filled but we are unable to do so because of personnel shortages and budgetary considerations. With 37 years on the job, I need to find a permanent replacement that I can train before retirement. Art investigation is a specialty requiring great skill. However, there are few training opportunities in this field. I teach one of the few courses available to burglary detectives throughout the state of California.

ARCA received a charming email from a reader who follows this blog 'from time to time' who thought we might be interested in a recent investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about fraudulent art work for sale on the internet.

CHICAGO—The owner and an employee of a River North art gallery and a New York man were indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly producing and/or selling counterfeit limited edition fine art prints of renowned artists, federal law enforcement officials announced today. The charges stem from an international investigation of fraudulent artwork that became public in Chicago three years ago when federal agents executed search warrants at the Kass/Meridan Gallery (KMG), also doing business as Allegro Art, located on West Huron Street in Chicago. In March 2008, seven defendants from Europe, Florida, New York, and Illinois were charged with fraudulently producing and/or selling $5 million worth of counterfeit fine art prints. Subsequently, two additional defendants were charged. The indictment announced today brings to 12 the total number of defendants who have been charged in Chicago as a result of this investigation.

Action Comics #1 (Courtesy of http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/yeung/actioncomics/cover.html)

Hrycyk did not identify the man who claims to have discovered the rare comic book after buying the contents of an abandoned storage container at auction. The veteran art detail detective said he's still checking out the story of the man, who has been unable to identify the exact place from where the comic came. 

"He claims he doesn't know the exact storage locker," Hrycyk said.

I don’t have even one lira; I’m not talking about a euro, not even an Italian lira.

That’s why there is a great deal of anonymity in stamp collecting.

[Stamps are] …a lot easier to sell than jewelry…. You can get them out of the country and take them to Germany, Switzerland, no questions ask. The same thing getting them here. It is about [the] one international commodity that ignores national laws…Gold you need a license to import it in any quantity. Bring diamonds in and you’ll pay big duty. Real estate, you can’t move.

U.S. museums [now] rely almost exclusively on what now passes as private philanthropy…In other words ‘private philanthropy’ in modern North America is just a back-handed form of state subsidy in which the government cedes to a rich private citizen the right to not pay a certain amount of taxes, the privilege of deciding which charitable, religious or educational causes gain the benefit, and the power to dictate just how the endowed institutions will use the bequest.