Wednesday, August 24, 2011

"I think the civil jury here has sent a strong message to those dealing in stolen art that there will be a price to pay for that activity."

"Michael Bakwin, who was the victim of the largest residential theft in Massachusetts history when art was stolen from his house in the Berkshires in 1978, won a $3 million civil judgment yesterday against the man who possessed the artwork for more than two decades and tried to sell it."

The defendant was Robert M. Mardirosian, "a retired criminal defense lawyer, [who] was convicted in federal court in Boston in August 2008 of possessing six of the stolen paintings and was sentenced to seven years in prison."