"That's My Motorboat!" :The National Museum Art Heist

It's considered one of the more sophisticated art heists of the 21st Century. Three masked men with guns strolled into the National Museum in Stockholm and they breezed back out with three multi-million dollar masterpieces. Thus began a years-long manhunt to find the daring perps and the lost artworks. Many undercover operations, some Bulgarian drug dealers, FBI art crime detectives, and one Swedish boat seller later... and you get this truly wild tale!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous Crime. It's a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Elizabeth Dunn Zaren Burnett. I've got a question for you,
my friend.

Speaker 3 (00:08):
I bet you do. I bet you don't.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
I look like I have a question for you.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
Look curious.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Yeah. My question is simple, straightforward, right to the point.
Do you know what's ridiculous?

Speaker 3 (00:16):
I do know what's ridiculous. You ever had buzzballs?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I've seen I've never ever cracked one, open, tasted one,
no idea. They've never done anything for me, aroun. I'm like,
I need to have a buzzball night for those who.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Have no idea what we're talking about. Buzzballs. It's a
round shape. Beverage comes in like it looks like a
little hand grenade, and so you get a case of buzzball,
a case of the buzzballs.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
I think malt liquor like a lot of.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
The So yeah, I've been trying to find out exactly
what it is, and I think it is sort of
a malt liquor, like a wine cooler ish type thing.
They have a bunch of different flavors, lime rita you
know shirt for chili, mango, berry, cherry, limeade, Lota colata.

(01:06):
It's that kind of this party.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Sure. Yeah, cocktails, fun fruity cocktails.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah. They have a new flavor coming out called pink
Lemon Squeeze. Well it came out pink Lemon Squeeze.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
They describe it as loud, proud, and packed with the
playful vibe only buzzballs can bring.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
So yeah, So there's this woman that we need to
blame for everything. Her name is Sarah Saunders and she
is the chief marketing officer at Sasarak company that owns
a buzzball. Oh yeah, as well as fireball like a
bunch of other ball. Yeah, it's that whole vibe, right,

(01:49):
So she's always like always thinking like how am I
going to market this vibe? We're so vibed out? And
they use vibe a lot in what they do. Yeah,
they want to have like shareable DNA and go viral
and they play to their strengths because they're ready to
drink product and you're consuming about a higher frequency. So

(02:11):
they got to keep in front of mind.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Right. These meetings sound like hell to me.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
And they're always looking for unexpected engagements erin and so
and a laughter litmus test. They say, like you know,
they want buzz on buzz and there's portfolio thinking. So anyway,
I'm just so glad I don't work in that kind
of industry anyway. So buzzballs, right, Like, how do we

(02:36):
get people in on this thing? What can we do
that Elizabeth's going to find out about like three weeks late.
That's the big question in all these boardrooms across the USA.
In order to celebrate Valentine's Day, Uh, they came up
with this thing. They were going to put online on
February third at ten a m. Eastern and it would
only be available for a week to bid on bidding

(03:00):
starting at two dollars and fourteen cents, and then it
would ship out by February thirteenth for Valentine's Day. So
it's like, if you really love someone, if you're really committed.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Set them free.

Speaker 4 (03:11):
Yeah, returns run away with Buzz run Away meant to be.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Well, then you had bid on this thing, and what
is this thing that I keep blathering about?

Speaker 2 (03:20):
I am so afraid.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
A nine carrot lab grown diamond ring modeled to look
like the container of the brand's new pink Lemon Squeezy flavor,
featuring over three hundred handset diamonds totally nine carrots has
an estimated value of thirty five thousand dollars.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Are you kidding me?

Speaker 3 (03:40):
It is so ugly. It is so ugly. But you know,
if someone really loved me, they do that. They thirty
five brand and I'm late to the party. How much
did this thing go for?

Speaker 2 (03:53):
I'm very curious because there's only one and.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
The only one I found the listen. Yeah, and so.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Listing like someone's already trying to sell it.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
I wish there were one hundred.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Bids, only one hundred.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
And it's it went for eighty three hundred dollars. Wow,
So I don't know if you can sell it for parts.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Good jeweler can probably chip that diamond out.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, and I'm not sure if, like are they will
eBay tell me who won? Or is that a secret?
I don't really do Abey, I say, you either do
it your own sister, hey, eBay, Yeah, oh no, look
it's letting me. It doesn't give me their their names,
but yeah, this person they got in right under the wire,
this bitter and uh, it's not giving me any details

(04:39):
on them, but anyway, Uh, they won eighty three hundred
dollars for.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
A thirty five thousand dollars diamond.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah, but I feel like that thirty five k is
an exaggeration.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Well, that's dependent upon somebody buying it at that price,
which I don't think you have any guarantee.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
And I say, they say nine carrots, but it's like
cumulative nine carrots. It's not one carrot stone.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
And it's factory made a lot.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
They're factory grown, and it's Paven City up in there.
So anyway, but it has a little pull tab. See
I'm zooming it in on my iPad to show you
there's a little pull tab on the top. That's true love.
Oh and it says buzzballs on the side. Will you
marry me? Oh my god, it's the it's very Paris Hilton. Anyway,

(05:25):
I've gone on too long with this. Uh, it's ridiculous.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
Next I'll give you that that is I have to.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
It's the fact, this is what our economy has come
down to it equally.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
And this just came to us from every angle, from
tons of rude dudes.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Thanks guys, Thank you guys. Well, I guess some ridiculous
for you. It doesn't involve diamonds or buzzball. Yeah, I'll
put it this way, if you scratch the surface of
even the most professional art crime, you will likely find
a bunch of amateurs doing their best impression of professionals.
Always This is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd and

(06:23):
out rage azz capers hee and cons. It's always ninety
nine percent murder free and one hundred percent ridiculous. Ridiculous, Elizabeth,
we cover a lot of our crimes on here. You Yeah,
I love them have We've been impressed by some of
their tactics, their methods. Maybe not for their professionalism, but

(06:45):
at least they're bravado.

Speaker 4 (06:47):
Yeah, and their taste totally.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Like do you remember the episode I did the viper
the General in the Rows of Dugdale, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Where the lady was supporting the IRA.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah. Yeah, it's the one about the Irish Mannor home
that once below belong to Lord Alfred and Lady Clementine
and Maddy. Clementine was one of the Midford sisters who
were a cold trip onto themselves and then being a
lord and a lady. Of course they had this impressive
art collection anyway at their home kept getting robbed first
by Rose Dugdale on behalf of the IRA. As you
pointed out. And then later Lord Alfred and Lady Clementine

(07:19):
they get robbed by an Irish hard man criminal, this
guy Martin Cahill and his gang. Yeah, when he breaks in,
he drives his Mitsubishi Paharo truck right up to the
stairs and smashes through the French doors. Yeah, the bust
inside the manor home and steal the art one good times,
that's what you call bravado.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Dave made me feel like I was there.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Such a great picture. But that kind of bravado is
not exactly the most sophisticated plan. We're going to take
a truck and smash into your.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
French doors to that.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
No, Now, if you speak with someone whose job it
is to track down and arrest these sorts of art thieves,
they will tell you most of the time, even when
it's an impressive job, the thieves are just amateurs doing
their best impression of professional thieves, like they've seen in
the movies we often cover, like, we often have this
idea that there are professional art thieves out there who

(08:08):
work for international criminals doing their bidding, pulling off well
conceived art heist. Yes, but it's not really accurate. Well,
it's not even true when there are criminals doing the
bidding of international criminals, which is the story I want
to tell you today.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
Huh.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
Now, Elizabeth, have you ever seen the James Bond movie
Doctor No?

Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yes, okay, doctor, yes, I have.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Do you remember how the super villain had a famous
stolen painting in his secret layer?

Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (08:32):
So back in nineteen sixty one, Agoya painting was stolen
from the National Gallery in the UK, and in order
to make their villain, Doctor No appear more modern and
super cultured as this evil genius, that same stolen masterpiece
was shown hanging in his lair. Yeah right, But in
real life, are there criminals who actually steal great masterpieces
for well healed international criminals.

Speaker 4 (08:53):
Yes, to answer that question, I just answered it.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Oh then done deal. I went through way too much
time and energy because I once tracked down this guy,
and I wrote a whole article for mel magazine about
this exact question, and I spoke with an expert, Robert Whitman, Okay,
former head of the FBI's Art Crimes Division. Yes, thirty
year FBI veteran. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Now, after his time at the FBI was over, he
wrote a book about his career priceless how I went
undercover to rescue the world stolen Treasures.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
So when I asked Robert Whitman about this idea of
heist team stealing art masterpieces for international criminals, he told me,
and I quote the whole Bond villain thing from Doctor No,
that was the beginning of this idea, that there's some
very rich, nefarious collector one who's sitting there lovingly looking
at his stolen Picasso in the basement. After thirty years

(09:43):
of doing these investigations, I've never run into that.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
So well, Pete, I think you're wrong.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Now. When I pressed him about the popular notion of
sophisticated art thieves and if that's really just a Hollywood creation,
Whitman told me, yeah, no, that's Hollywood.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
So well, Jim, I think you're wrong.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
So Whitman he elaborated on that thought because it wasn't
enough to just have Yeah, that's Hollywood. And he cited
an art heist that he'd worked on that went down
in Europe and he said, and I quote, we had
a case involving a group of individuals that walked into
the Swedish National Museum at five o'clock two days before Christmas.
They had machine guns. They made everybody lie down on

(10:23):
the floor. They set off car bombs in the city
to stop the police from responding. They made their getaway
with a high speed boat that they'd parked in the
harbor next to the museum. So well thought out robberies
do still happen. There are still real criminal enterprises run
by professional criminals who execute complex crimes for a living.
So Bob's kind of having it both ways.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
Yeah, yeah, ken Is, I'm just say first name of
them I noticed.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
So Elizabeth, if you don't mind me calling you that,
do you remember what I set up top about? How
if you quote scratch the surface of even the most
professional art crime, you will likely find a bunch of
amateurs doing their best impression of professional.

Speaker 4 (11:00):
Have you said that it was a couple of minutes?

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Now it turns out that's true even for the most
well thought out and respected museum robberies, which brings us
today's crime, the art heist of the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.
So the year was two thousand. It was Friday, December
twenty second, three days before Christmas. Just like your friend James,
Bob Whitman said so on that very same day over

(11:23):
in Scotland at this Skibo castle. Yeah, the Material Girl
aka Madonna was about to walk down the aisle at
her wedding to film director and friend of the show
guy Ritchie.

Speaker 5 (11:35):
Ye.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
It was a magical day, Elizabeth, December twenty second, two thousand.

Speaker 4 (11:39):
Meanwhile, I was there. It was so cold.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
Keep that thought in mind. Over in Stockholm, Sweden, things
weren't so magical because they were about to get cinematic.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
Is it around magical?

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Well, not this way. At about five minutes before five pm,
outside the luxurious and picturesque Grand Hotel, a car explodes
in a dramatic fireball. Oh, thankfully no one is injured
or killed.

Speaker 3 (12:04):
I think it is.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
But the fire burns through the car, filling the air
with thick black smoke. Yeah, And within mere moments a
second car suddenly explodes just outside of the Strand Hotel,
which is another picturesque, luxurious hotel.

Speaker 3 (12:17):
Is just insensitive. I take it all back, And just.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
Like that first car, the second cars also turned into
a pile of flames, topped off by plumes of hot
black smoke. Again, though Elizabeth, no one is hurt or
killed at this point, Phone calls come into police headquarters
fire stations reporting the cars on fire outside of these
two swanky hotels. The police and the fire departments they
mobilize to deal with these surprise exploding cars. Sirens fill

(12:45):
the air as the first responders leap into action. Now,
were these exploding cars a coincidence or could this be
some sort of terrorist action in central Stockholm?

Speaker 3 (12:53):
Oh, my gosh, Sarah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Well. Meanwhile, over at the National Museum of Stockholm, two
rather s suspicious men have taken up positions inside the
gallery and when they hear the sirens of the first
responders arriving at the scene to deal with the two
nearby car explosions, the two men they pull down their
balaclava face mask they brandish their handguns. It's go time.
Since it's just before closing time at the museum, the

(13:17):
security guards working the floor at the moment are busy
ushering people out the door when they're suddenly confronted by
these two masked men with their guns aimed right at them.
They make everybody lie down, and since they have surprise
on their side, these two masks are men easily subdue
the security guards and the people who are late to
leave the museum. Now, this museum has never been robbed before,

(13:37):
thus they've never invested in security measures. There are no
security cameras in the National Museum in the year two thousand.
There are no active alarm systems. There's just a pair
of security guards doing rounds.

Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yes, I mean, I've never been robbed, but I have
locks on my doors.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Well, it's a little different than museums, like once you're
in the locks don't really matter, not at night.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
Sure, I know what I'm saying, Like, just because something
hasn't happened doesn't mean you don't prepare for it. That's
what I was getting it.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
But you know, Stockholm had not really seen any reason
to be all like paranoid and suspicious of their visitors.
They likee much more trusting. Well, at this point, this
is all they have to protect, these masterpieces, these security
guards who've been easily overcome. Yeah, so do you want
to guess what happens next? No, well you don't have

(14:29):
to guess because I want you to close your eyes.

Speaker 6 (14:31):
Wait already, I want you to picture it.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
It's the Friday before Christmas and you're in Stockholm alone,
taking in some culture as you try to cheer yourself up.
After your invitation to Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie never arrived,
you decide to visit the National Museum in central Stockholm.
You've enjoyed your day at the museum. It's really helped
us you from not attending Madonna and Guy Richie's wedding.
Just before closing time, you're ushered out by a handsome

(15:05):
security guard when all of a sudden chaos or roughs.
First you hear a pair of explosions, have kind of
been too far away. Then two men in balaklava face
masks aimed guns at the security guards, who, especially the
one who was walking you out. You were just about
to ask if he wanted maybe get some dinner. So
much for that, because now he's lying face down on
the marble floor of the museum, and so are you.

(15:28):
You hear ominous footsteps approaching. When you look up, you
see a third man in a ballaklava face mask. He's
carrying a submachine gun and it seems like he's all business.
He and the other two armed men in masks exchange
a few quick words. Since the security guards are now incapacitated,
two of the heist men bound up the stairs well.
The third man keeps his submachine gun trained on the guards.

(15:50):
You can hear the two men's boots as they slap
against the marble steps, and then they grow quiet once
they reach the second floor. A moment later, you hear
the boots again on the marble steps. They're moving faster now.
The two men practically run back into the lobby where
you and the security guards are lying on the floor,
while the third mask man, the one with the submachine gun,
watches over you. All the two masked men indicate that

(16:13):
they got what they'd come for. In their arms, they
hold three framed masterpieces. There are small artworks, but they're
also worth millions upon millions of dollars, about thirty million
dollars in total, if you were cognitive of such things.
The museum heistsmen don't stand on ceremony. They run out
of the museum. As soon as they're out of the door,
the security guards both sleep to their feet. You also

(16:35):
clamber to your feet. All three of you rush to
the doors of the lobby. The museum is bordered by
water on two sides, and so you watch as the
three men run down to the water's edge, they hop
into a waiting motor boat start its engine. Then seconds
the motor boat roars away and joins the other water
traffic in the canals of central Stockholm. Since it's now
well past five pm, you quickly lose sight of them

(16:57):
in the growing darkness, and just like that, they're gone.
As their motor boat disappears into the busy waterway, you
look back and reconsider asking that handsome security guard if
you want to grab a bite, but you figure that
very soon you'll all be busy answering questions from the police.
So much for that, Oh, well, guess only, but Donna
gets to enjoy an epic moment of romance today. So

(17:20):
there you go, Elizabeth, Yes, you just witnessed the robbery
of the National Museum of Stockholm. Well, when the Stockholm
Police do finally arrive to respond to the emergency at
the National Museum, they find that the three man height
crew has left a surprise for them nails twisted together
into tire poppers.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
Oh, I thought you're gonna say they took a dump
on the floor.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
This is just further evidence that this was a well
planned robbery. They were ready for in case something right
so the police quickly canvass the museum. They discover that
thieves got away with three masterpieces in total. The stolen
artworks are two paintings by Renoir, one called Conversation with
the Gardener, another one called The Young Parisian. The third

(18:01):
painting is by Rembrandt, and it's a self portrait, very
famous selfie. Each masterpiece of value is estimated it somewhere
between seven to ten million dollars. The Rembrand's the most
expensive by far. There's more bad news. None of these
paintings are insured. Okay, no, come on, now, I told
you the heightst at this museum. So the museum's acting director,

(18:23):
Torston Gonersen, he tells the Associated press the quote, we've
never had a similar robbery with weapons. This never happened
in Sweden as far as I know. He also speculates
that the art thieves were no art lovers, and presumably
we'll contact the museum to ransom back the paintings.

Speaker 3 (18:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
There's one problem with this plan though, as Torston Gonersen
puts it, but we won't pay any money. We don't
have any money.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
So, guys, what kind of crackerjack operation is this?

Speaker 2 (18:49):
I had no ideas so like like they run thin
margins over the Apparently now he may be using the
press to dissuade the thieves from attempting to ransom the masterpiece.
I did give him the benefit of that. Or maybe
he's just not that cunning. He's just speaking his mind.
I don't know what's going through his mind. But when
he hears about the daring robbery. Thomas Hall, a professor
of art at Stockholm University, he scoffs at the news

(19:12):
of this heist. He tells the Swedish news out quote,
the whole robbery is absurd. The paintings will eventually return
to the museum. No collector wants to buy something that
you can't show. So meanwhile, the police who are in
charge of recovering these paintings, they scratch their head in
confusion as they turn up no leads in their initial
manhunt for the art thieves. Inspector Thomas Johanson of the

(19:34):
Stockholm Police Department, he tells the French news outlet Agency
French Press AFP that quote, we're still looking for them.
They could escape quite easily. There's no ice on the
water at the moment. It's open water and it's dark. Yeah,
so like they got nothing going for them. But he
also gives life to the idea that someone paid these
thieves to pull off this job. Inspector Johansen tells reporters

(19:57):
this was a professional work. It looks like a case
where someone will ordered them to steal the paintings, a
contract job.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
And he also adds that quote it's not going to
be easy to sell these paintings on the open market,
so it must have been someone who just wanted the
paintings for their own sake. So he's going with the
whole doctor no idea.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
Yeah, but it's not really how that always seems to work,
we know.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
I mean that's but he's the you know, not museum expert,
you know, but he's of the opinion that this is
what's happening. He's a police guy, you know, he's sitting
there saying like there could be a doctor no case.
So at this point, to make matters worse, the Stockholm
police can see that the art thieves could be damned
near anywhere because there are thousands of islands that make
up the archipelago near Stockholm right, not to mention there's

(20:40):
also millions of acres of dense forested woods that also
surrounds Stockholm. So it looks like this brazen, semi militarized
theft these art heist team has successfully gotten away with
it and there's not a clue to be found for now, Elizabeth,
Let's take a little break, Okay, listen to some ads,
cool our heels, and when we're back, we're going to

(21:00):
investigate this crime and all the international ridiculousness that awaits.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
Nice.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
We're back, Elizabeth, We're okay. So we started out with
a well conceived, well executed art heist, not much about
it if it was ridiculous, So you're ready for things
to get sideways and ridiculous.

Speaker 4 (21:37):
I really am, okay.

Speaker 2 (21:38):
So the first domino to fall is an unexpected eyewitness
comes forward to help police with their manhunt. There was
this old Swedish man who was there that day, working
in that same waterway that where the art heist crew
used it for their motor boat escape. Yeah, he sees
the robbers running out of the museum, jumping their boat
and speed off. He thinks to himself, well that looks suspicious,

(22:00):
and so he did what many an old Swedish man
unafraid of death might do he followed them, you're kidding
as they sped through the maze of canal. That'sizen no, right,
and so he goes like you know, they leave central Stockholm,
he chases their wake. He follows them for miles until
they enter I got this big freshwater lake. And he
watches as the thieves pull up to the coast, hop

(22:22):
out of their motor boat and make it for their getaway.
Presumably they had like a car hidden nearby, maybe in
the woods. He didn't see the getaway car, but he
did get a good look at the motor boat. So
this old Swedish man he just gets back in his boat,
turns around and goes back to central Stockholm, and he
tells the investigating police what he saw. Where the motor
boat that the thieves used is located. The police are

(22:44):
like real and like let's go, and they're quick to act.
Within two hours of the Museum Heights, the police find
the getaway boat. No, they're still on the banks of
the lake, right where they left it. The boat is
searched for clues. They take it back to the lab.
They look for any eva it's anything to help them
in their manhunt, but they find no fingerprints, no DNA evidence.

(23:05):
They have no actionable leads from this boat. They're like, well,
that was a nice effort the old man. So out
of desperation, the police turned to the public for help.
They release a photo of the motor boat in local newspapers.
Did anyone know this boat? And when you know what, Elizabeth,
the former owner of the motor boat, seized the photos
in the newspaper. He phones the police. Oh that's my boat,

(23:27):
so he asked, like, how can I help? The police
ask was the boat stolen? He was like, no, I
recently sold it, and they're like okay, and he's In fact,
the buyers were these three suspicious looking men. After they
purchased the boat from him. The men asked if they
could borrow his boat trailer to transport the boat, because
they like, buy the boat it's on a trailer. They're like, oh,

(23:48):
we should have run a trailer it, so, you know,
being like Swedish. The boat owners like, yeah, sure, but
I'll need some kind of insurance so that you'll return it.
So he asked for their phone number.

Speaker 4 (23:58):
Wait, that's the interesting your kids.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
No collateral, No, like leave your wallet, your your license,
your phone number, your phone numbers I can call you.
So the police ask do you still have the phone number?
The former boat owners like, oh, sure, I wrote it
down on the back of the receipt for the purchase.
So he digs around, he finds a number and he's like,
here you o police. Yeah, now, Elizabeth, do you think

(24:22):
that there was a fake phone number they used? Maybe
like a burner phone.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
They've been pretty good at covering their tracks thus far,
but I'm starting to wonder with the little devilish smurn
on it was.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
A real working number that belonged to one of the
art thieves.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
Like a lambline.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
No, I got a cell phone. Now the police, they
finally have an actionable lead. So the Stockholmed police they
investigate the phone. They check for any recent calls to
or from the phone number. Right, the phone number reveals
this network of petty thieves that they already know about.
They're like, wait a minute, this guy knows that guy.
This guy. So now these guys are, like I said,
petty thieves. They mostly steal cars. They break into truck

(25:00):
they like, you know, like let's fall off the back
of a truck. That's right, But they are not sophisticated.
Our thieves. From this list of people, two men are
identified as central to it, a forty two year old
Russian national named Alexander Petrov and a thirty one year
old Swedish national name Stefan Nordstrom.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
Oh, heir to the Nords from.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
Fortune probably, so there's one big problem with the police investigation.
Both of these men are locked up in prison at
the time of the robbery.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
I don't think they could do it so much for
their lead, right, Saren. I don't think they could do
it except when you really think about it, Zaren. I
don't think they could do it.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
Except for we don't have enough facts because as Americans,
there's something in Sweden that would sound insane to most Americans. Yeah,
the men are deemed low risk prisoners, so they're allowed
to leave the prison for weekends.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
The pass Yeah, yeah, a.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
Couple of But I just I still don't anticipate it.
I thought, oh, they were locked up, couldn't be them.

Speaker 3 (25:57):
Just simply they're like, you have to stay you'reduring the
week and all the good TVs on. These are very
uncomfortable bed.

Speaker 2 (26:04):
You can't walk your kids to school. So this is
exactly what happens that Friday, the men were out of
the prison, and so.

Speaker 4 (26:12):
They're on furlough.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
They're on weekend furlough, and they're like, you know what, let's.

Speaker 2 (26:16):
Go in fact, let's be the masterminds for it.

Speaker 3 (26:19):
So the Russian spent one weekend buying a boat.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
Seriously exactly, Well, next weekend we'll get some gloves. And
so the Russian national, Alexander Petrov, he ends up returning
to prison on Monday after they pull the job.

Speaker 3 (26:33):
Well that's what you do, yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
The Swedish national stuff on. Nordstrom does not return. So
when he fails to return to prison, the prison authorities
and the Stockholm police they search hisself. Well, he's given
us the right to do this, and what do they defined? Elizabeth?
They discover a trove of clues. Finally, man, he's got
newspaper clippings he's been collecting of previous successful and unsuccessful heights.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
Does you have a notebook that says if I did
it on the front.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
No, But at this point now they have proof that
Stephan Nordstrom is most likely involved. So meanwhile, the art
Heis crew discovers something of their own. No one wants
to buy the stolen masterpiece. They can't seem to move
this thing. And maybe they had an original buyer, now
the person backed out. I don't know. But they can't
collect any money for the three stolen paintings, so since
the black market won't buy them, the thieves try to

(27:19):
arrange a backup plan to scare up a buyer.

Speaker 3 (27:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
Six days after the heist, on December twenty eighth, the
Russian national Alexander Petrov's lawyer walks into a Stockholm police
station and tells it you can I talk to a detective,
and he tells the detectives he represents the men who
stole the artwork and he'd like to broker a deal man.
He hands over a ransom note for evidence that his

(27:43):
clients have the stolen masterpieces. He also shows the police
a set of polaroid photos of the artwork with a
newspaper from that same day to prove if they have it.
The police they take the ransom note, they listen to
what he says, they check the polaroids and they tell
the lawyer we'll be in touch now, Elizabeth. The police
are doing something that we in the storytelling business call lying.

Speaker 3 (28:03):
Yeah. Yeah, they have.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
No real plans to make a deal with the thief.
He still plan to catch them, So now they have
the lawyer's identity, so the police they put a surveillance
team on his trail to follow out and they plan
to wait for him to meet with his clients, which
they assume he will do because the clients are going
to want the news and then they'll just bust them all,
which is exactly what happens. Within days, the lawyer meets

(28:25):
up with his client, Alexander Petrov, the Russian national. I
guess the prison let him out again for another furlough. Sure, anyway,
it's not just him. The lawyer also meets up with
Stefan Nordstrom, so they got the three of them together.

Speaker 3 (28:37):
Perfect. It's Saturday.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
So when the police identify their purpse, they rush in,
they arrest everyone. It helps that Nordstrom has on him
a bag of polaroid pictures of the stolen.

Speaker 4 (28:49):
Artwork, like new ones.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Here's like I got a new paper, you know, I
want people to know we still have them. I updated
the newspaper.

Speaker 3 (28:59):
You know, with some cute outfits on it.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
Exactly got him in a wood paneled motel, so naturally,
his DNA is all over these pictures. So this evidence
is enough for the police to ask for a warrant
to raid a known hideout as part of this men's
network of small time.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
Crooks in the woods. Like a hideout.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
No, no, like in like a seller, like a basement hideout.
So the police they bust down the door of the cellar,
they raid the basement hideout. Bad news is no stolen artwork.
Good news is they find like a day planner that
details the plans for the museum heist. And the best
news is in the plans for the museum heist, it
also includes a list of all of the co conspirators

(29:38):
by their real name, not by the street names, not
the code name, They're real names. So now armed with
this shopping list of.

Speaker 3 (29:44):
Criminals, I'm just you have a friendly yell like a
day runner, which is just taking me back.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
Right, so when that was like the important person thing,
and then you list the real.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
Names, yes, it's amazing.

Speaker 3 (29:55):
Wow, social security double I don't know, they don't have
that there, but the equivalent.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
So the DLB.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
Stockholm PD they rush out, they arrest everyone on their
shopping list of criminals. They get Alexander Petrov, Stefan Nordstrom,
the lawyer, and ten other men. So they get thirteen
people in total.

Speaker 5 (30:11):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
So May twenty third, twenty one, the thirteen men are
all formally charged is either perpetrators or accessories to the artist.
So the prosecutor for their case tells local news, we
consider all of them as perpetrators of the crime. It
all hangs together. It is one and the same deed.
So basically it's like the Swedish version of a Rico case. Yeah, yeah, right,
you're guilty of participation in the conspiracy. So all of

(30:34):
the co conspirators now they insist, of course I'm innocent.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
The judge here's the case does not agree. The eight
of the thirteen men are imprisoned. Stefan Nordstrom catches a
six and a half year sentence, Alexander Petrov receives an
eight year sentence. Three other men catch prison sentences between
two and four years, and there's three others who receive
four years each for receiving stolen goods. Okay, five of
the men are acquitted, which includes Petrov's lawyer, who was

(30:59):
facing charges of the accessory to attempted extortion, which is bad
for a lawyer, but I guess you like you hired
a good lawyer because he gets off. The bad news
for the police is, despite all of the arrests, the
charges and then actual convictions, none of the men talks
and none of them know where the stolen masterpieces are now. Yeah,
so they get nothing out of it. They just get

(31:20):
these people. So they're making headlines. People were like, yeah,
but what about the paintings?

Speaker 3 (31:23):
Right right?

Speaker 2 (31:24):
So the police they pulled this major bus, but get
no new leads to find the missing artwork. They're back
to square one.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
So then fake with the capital Left steps in to
shake things up because that same spring, the Stockholm police
they raid a house they've been watching as part of
a drug case. Okay, they round up the suspects, they
go into search the house for evidence of the drug
dealing and collect it. And they're doing all the processing,
you know, and what do they find one of the
stolen paintings.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
At least one.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
It's Renoire's conversation with a gardener's just sitting in a
corner right gathering dusts.

Speaker 3 (31:54):
You can see that these guys didn't like they oh,
we couldn't get it on, move it on the black market.
Well you didn't know big dog like.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
They like traded it for drugs.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
Yeah, and if that's the level that you're working at,
they're not working at levels of like international criminals who
will buy big pieces, you know, and use it for
larger leverage on things.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Well hold that thought. Oh okay, because remember they were
desperate at first, but as time goes, I think they
start reaching out to more and more powerful players.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
Yeah, So at this point, Kurt Hanson from the Stockholm
PD he has to confest to news reporters we weren't
looking for the painting, so it was a bonus when
we found its. Like they're like trying to spread good news.
So the Swedish National Museum sends over someone to authenticate
the painting, because he had to also ensure that it's
not a convincing fake, like somebody's to forged it selling
it as one of the stolen paintings. They confirm it's

(32:45):
the real deal. Boom, one stolen painting down, two to go.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
I'm going to check that off in my day planning.

Speaker 2 (32:52):
There you go. This leaves the self portrait of Rembrandt
and Renoirs painting the young Parisian. Yeah to recover now,
the museum's director, Torsten Goonerson. He tells the newspaper reporters
that he remains optimistic that the remaining two paintings will
be located, but only time will tell. So now that
we've located one of the three stolen paintings purely by luck, sure,

(33:14):
let's take another break, Elizabeth, listen to some more ads,
and after these messages, this case takes a truly strange
turn as police search high and low for the other
two stolen masterpiece And we're back, Elizabeth. Hello, You ready

(33:47):
for things to get even more ridiculous? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (33:49):
Always good, good.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
Okay, let's jump across the Atlantic and pick this story
back up two of the stolen masterpieces from the Stockholm
National Museum. They remain missing. The police have no leads.
The suspects have been arrested sentence for their role in
the heist. They aren't talking. But then there was that
stroke of luck. And then there's a second stroke of luck. Okay,
because out in Los Angeles, the FBI is running surveillance

(34:13):
out a bunch of Bulgarian drug dealers. As you do, well,
the agents are listening, you know. One of the Bulgarians
says something about how they have this masterpiece painting that
they're looking to sell. It's renoirs the young Parisians stop.
This catches the ear of one of the agents, and
someone was like, isn't that one of the paintings of
a stolen from that museum in Stockholm?

Speaker 4 (34:30):
Good memory.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
So now the FBI focuses their surveillance on the leader
of this band of Bulgarian drug dealers in Los Angeles.
His name is Boris Costaff. No longer just listening in.
They order round the clock surveillance of agents on Costuff.
One day, when he's like coming out of his home,
cost Off walks out with a suspiciously sized package. It
looks to be the right size to hold one of
the missing stolen paintings. Costaff loads the package into his

(34:54):
car and heads out for his day. The FBI get
behind him. They woop, poop, swoop in. They pull over
cost Off while he's driving. They ask about the package
in his car's trunk. Then he opens the trunk, They
grab it. They open the package and it is not
a stolen painting. Elizabeth, Oh no, you want to guess
what it is?

Speaker 3 (35:10):
A pizza?

Speaker 2 (35:11):
You never will. It's his dry cleaning his dry cleaning.
Oh like shirts, dirty laundry. Yeah, exactly so. Certain though
he must know something about where the stolen painting is.
They haul them in for questioning. So the FBI agents
they start sweating cost Off, they grill them, they threaten
them at prison time. They inform them that he could
be looking at decades behind bars. Now Costaff is not

(35:32):
a young man. He's the leader of this Bulgarian like
drug dealing community. Decades behind bars means he would likely
spend the rest of his life in prison. So properly
frightened now, Kostoff tells the FBI he does know where
the renoir the young Parisian painting is. In fact, he
tells them if they'll make a deal, he'll hand over
the painting since it was smuggled through lax and is

(35:55):
currently in LA It's like, I can take you to it.

Speaker 4 (35:58):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
The Bulgarian drug dealers thought they could sell it to
one of the rich fat cats in Hollywood. They're like,
they buy anything, these idiots, that's true, but they had
no luck. They couldn't find one of these so.

Speaker 4 (36:06):
Called idiots who we're hip enough.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Yeah, so it's a really pretty paintings. This young girl
and everything.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
At this point, like they're wanting like more modern stuff.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
Sure, sure, but also people just really don't want to
buy stolen painting.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
Because you should have talked to Barbarstras.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
The legal liability for it is kind of insane, true, right,
but why risk it all for a painting if you're
caught with it?

Speaker 3 (36:29):
Very true?

Speaker 2 (36:29):
You know you're you're doing the time time time in
federal prison where they don't let you out for a
weekend furlough. It's true. So at this point the FBI
is like, well, go on, we're listening. You know where
it is. The Bulgarian drug dealer cost Off is like,
I want the deal. So the FBI is like, well,
we need to show up good faith cost Off. So
Costof tells them, okay, well I'll tell you where the

(36:50):
painting the Young Parisian is located. The FBI they go
out and sure enough, they recover the painting. It's right
where he says it is. The Renoir masterpiece is wrapped
up in a towel, hidden in a plastic shopping bag
in the basement. Oh man, very importantly, it's not damaged.

Speaker 3 (37:04):
Oh good.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
Yeah. The FBI goes back to Costaff and they tell
him his information was solid, and you know, they want
to ensure he doesn't spend any the rest of his
life in prison because there's still the third painting out there.
So the Bulgarian drug dealer costs Up says, you know what,
there's more. I also know where the rembarant self portrait is.
If we make a deal, I will help you get
it back. FBI is like, you got a deal, start talking.

(37:27):
So satisfied, cost Off tells the FBI that the final
missing stolen masterpiece it isn't in la It isn't in
America at all, so it's still in Europe and they're like, okay,
So he's not exactly certain where it is, though. He
says he's certain he can help the FBI to find
it though, because he knows the man who has it,
and that man is his Son's willing to flip on

(37:52):
his son. That's how afraid he is of spending the
rest of his life in an American prison.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
Yes, So now at this point the FBI is like,
you salty, Doug, you got a deal, all right. So
it turns out the final missing stolen masterpiece is with
Kostov's son. This man named Alexander aka Sasha Lindgren and
a he's a Swedish national, and a few of his
criminal confederates. Chief among them is in a rocky fellow
named Baja Kudam and his four brothers. Huh So. Meanwhile,

(38:19):
at that exact same time, Baja Kudam and his brother
Deja Kutam are busy sweating Sasha Lingren to sell this
stolen painting. News is not broken about the young Parisian
being caught. They just are like, we need to move
this man. We can make that. Yeah, we've had this
for like four and a half years. We need to
do something with it. And then, like I said, they
don't know about Kostov getting busted, or that he's handed

(38:41):
over the Renoir masterpiece. The FBI. All that's kept out
of the press. The FBI does not announce that they've
secured this painting.

Speaker 3 (38:47):
So did you think the Bulgarian had a romance with
a Swedish lady?

Speaker 2 (38:51):
My guess, But I don't know. I mean, it could
just be that he thought it would be better to
raise his son in Sweden because his crimes easier. If
you get busted, you don't go to a prison.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
Really, yeah, you get the weekends off.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
But he couldn't really sell drug there enough. We went
to La That's my guest.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
I like that.

Speaker 4 (39:02):
I like that narrative.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
So at this point were four maybe four and a
half years since the original museum heightst They've been sitting
on this painting. It has not moved, can't find a buyer.
So other than being just passed around by some drug
dealers in career criminals, no one wants to buy the
stolen artworks. Meanwhile, the value of this stolen Rembrandt the
self portrait, by the way, has increased dramatically in this

(39:24):
four and a half years. The painting is now worth
an approximately thirty five million. It's more than tripled.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
In price, and a lot of that is because it.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
Yeah, yeah, it's like the Mona Lisa. We suddenly has
a lot more value because it was stolen. And at
this point, that is if it's unharmed. Keep in mind,
so what if.

Speaker 3 (39:42):
They give Rembrandt the old Glasgow Smile take.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
A knife til while they're drunk, yeah, getting high on
Rocky and so the sun disasha and is a Rocky
crime buddies, they don't really care that it's worth thirty
five million. They don't even really know if it's worth
thirty five million. Instead, they're going around asking for like
seven hundred of its value. So I won't make you
do that math, Elizabeth, but here's what it is. They're

(40:05):
willing to sell it for like two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars quarter a million dollars, Yes, thirty five million
dollar painting. They'll they'll take a cool quarter mill, right.
They just want to make something out of it, you know,
they want to get their beak sweat. Yes, The FBI
contacts the Stockholm police and the Danish cops in Copenhagen
and they let him know the good news that they
want to run a coordinated sting operation and recover this

(40:27):
final missing masterpiece. So the Stockholm detectives are super relieved
to hear that one of the missing masterpieces has already
been recovered. The renoir and the FBI has a line
on the third so they're like, oh, that's great to hear.
What do you want us to do? The FBI is like,
send it over our art crimes guy. He's gonna go
undercover as an underground authenticator for European crime family who's

(40:49):
interested in buying the rem brand. You need help them
with his plan. The sweets are like, okay, what is
your art crime agent's name? So, Elizabeth, remember up talk
when I was talking about Robert Whitman, the cat I
interviewed by the our crime Right, he's the guy the
FBI sends over to go deep cover to recover this painting.
That would be so fun, right you get like imagine
picking out your outfit.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
He goes, he gets the Rick Steves Sweden book. He's ready,
he's prepped.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
And also he's supposed to be working like a Russian
crime family.

Speaker 3 (41:15):
He gets the Rick Steves.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
He doesn't have to do like, you know, like a
Russian anything. He's just like has to be somebody that
you know.

Speaker 3 (41:22):
So he's like playing playing an American who works for all.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
These exactly and to go to Sweden. He's like an
antiques road show judge that they hire for like the
Russian crime family.

Speaker 3 (41:34):
Do you think he did a lot of wig play?
Do you think he I'd like to believe so s
caamped it up with some wigs. I should have asked
him facial wigs.

Speaker 2 (41:40):
When I asked him about the recovery. He did tell
me this and I quote this LA drug dealer had
access to one of the ren Wars. We were able
to recover that painting through a drug investigation in two
thousand and five. As a result of that recovery, we
were able to get that individual to flip for us.
He introduced us to the gang in Sweden. They still
had the ren brand It was the most valuable piece.
It's worth thirty five million dollars. We started an undercover

(42:02):
operation in Copenhagen. I posed as an authenticator for the
Russian mob. So at this point two thousand and five,
Old Bob Whitman flies over to Copenhagen posing as an
art authenticator for the Russian mafia, who are, according to Costoff,
looking to buy the Rembrandt. So Costoff tells his son,
I got a buyer, and he sets up his son
so Kastafi. He sets it all up for the FBI,
the whole thing. He coordinates the deal to sell the

(42:24):
painting via his son Sasha and the worst.

Speaker 5 (42:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
So even though Costaff vouches for them, it still takes
a few weeks to earn everyone's trust and to coordinate
this deal. But finally, after a few weeks past old
Bob Whitman gets the go ahead, he sets up in
person meeting with Costoff's son and his crime buddy's to
authenticate and to see if it's legit, and then if so,
he'll buy the rembrand Sure. So, as Whitman told MPR
in twenty eleven, quote, after about two weeks with the

(42:49):
thieves who were still in Stockholm, we negotiated the price
of the Rembrandt down to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
We actually had two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in
cash in the hotel room. We were bringing it back
and forth. We let them no, it was real right,
because he's got like he's got some show money.

Speaker 3 (43:03):
He's doing the whole like putting the brick up to
his ears.

Speaker 2 (43:08):
We called that money over here. So the plan is
for the meeting to go down in a hotel room
in Copenhagen, and of course the FBI sets up mikes
and cameras hidden all throughout the hotel room to record
this exchange. Danish law enforcement they send over a swat
team and they're hiding out in the hotel room right
next door. And it's in Copenhagen. It's it's in Danish territory.

Speaker 3 (43:28):
In Sweden, okay, I'm following.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
And so the Danish they had their swat team next door,
and they're supposed to wait for a signal from old
Bob Whitman that the deal has been made and that
he has the painting in his hands. And once that happens,
he says the code word. The Danish swat team then
rushes into the hotel room busts everybody who was in.
Bob Whitman. The Swedish police meanwhile, they also get to
do some undercover work of their own because they follow

(43:52):
the thieves down from Stockholm as they take a train
to Copenhagen to make the exchange. So Sasha Lingrant, he's
in down in Copenhagen already, the Baja kou Doom and
his brother Deja Kundum are aboard the train, right, So
I got these two Iraqi nationals going down. They've got
this package that looks like to be the right shape
and size that's the stolen Rembrandt. And the Swedish cops

(44:13):
are so tempted to arrest them right there on the
just d it all, but wisely they don't. They stick
to the plan Meanwhile, down in Copenhagen, Sasha lend Grin
meets old Bob Whitman at the hotel, remember working undercover.
The two men travel over the hotel and they handle
the exchange. Later that same day, the two Iraqi brothers,
Baja and Deh arrive and they head over to the

(44:34):
hotel for the planned meet up and the exchange. At
this point, Bob Whitman is trying to play it super
cool and staying character. I'd like to think he's doing
some serious wig play, but he's in.

Speaker 3 (44:42):
A wig and he's just like, yeah, he's like developed
a character tick.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
Yeah, I would love it if he had like, you know,
like a Hawaiian shirt and a blazer. He's like a
fun art guy kojak so as he's like. They're all
waiting for the stolen artwork to arrive. Finally, the brothers
Aha and Deja. They arrive at the hotel with these
painting sized package. When they step inside the bugged hotel room,

(45:07):
the brothers asked to see the money. Whitman asks to
see the painting. They tell him money first, so Witmen
doesn't want to spook them, so he does as he's told.
He shows them the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
in cash. One of the brothers takes the briefcase and
he just walks out of the hotel room. Oh right,
they haven't. No, nothing's been to change. He just walks out.
So Witmen still hasn't even seen the painting. He doesn't

(45:29):
even know if it's in the room. He's just been
promised there's like a package that looks like it could
be a painting. So the Swedish and Danish law enforcement
they see the brother leave the hotel room with the briefcase,
they start to freak out a little like church, are
we stopping? We do? Meanwhile, Bob is in the bugged
room and he's narrating out loud what's happening, So his
partners in the sting operation next door kind of know
what's happening. He's like, so, well, once your man checks

(45:52):
the cash, then you'll hand over the painting to me.
Is that right? And Sascha Lindgren's like, yeah, don't worry
about it, and Whitman asks to check the ping, but
the crimers are like, you need to relax. So meanwhile,
the Swedes and the Danes they watched the one a
rocky brother take the elevator down to the lobby and
they just breezes on out of the hotel with a
quarter million dollars in cash. No one does anything because

(46:14):
Bob Whitman hasn't said the code word, and these Nordic
types are like, we got to stick to the plan. So
the Swedes and the Danes, right, they're really tempted to
jump the gun and rush the scene, but they don't.
They trust Bob Whitman's read of the situation, which is
a good thing because, as it turns out, the package
that they brought with them on the train down from
Stockholm was a decoy. It was a way to test

(46:34):
if any cops were involved, right, and they thought they
fully suspected there might be some chance of this sudden
fire who comes out of nowhere with the Russian mafia
might not be legit, So they came up with this
way to kind of suss out the cops, assuming they'd
be tempted to just grab the brothers as soon as
they saw the painting size package. Luckily, the Swedes and
the Danes they didn't jump the gun, and instead they
wait for the code word from Bob Whitman. Okay, So

(46:57):
back to the hotel room. The Iraqi brother who left
with the cash eventually turns back up. He comes where
he takes the elevator right back up. This time he's
got a wholly different painting sized package. He hops back
on the elevator, goes back upstairs, rejoins everyone in the
hotel room. Boom boom boom. You better believe the Swedes
in particular relieve to see him. Returns yeah, oh look
at that, Bob Whitman. So at this point the exchange

(47:19):
goes down as planned, as agreed upon. The package is opened.
Whitman does his best undercover bit as the authenticator pulls
out like a jeweler's loop or whatever, right, and he
checks the Rembrandt self portrait, and he's like, you know,
the Russians really want to know, like they're gonna be
they'll kill me if I'm wrong. I can't waste their money, right,
So he's like playing it up. He confirms the painting
is legitimate. Once he's satisfied, Whitman finally says the code

(47:43):
word like farfignugan. Right, the Danish swat team rushes into
the hotel room. Whitman grabs the painting, and he runs
to the bathroom and jumps in the bathtub. Why, he says,
like kisses ant gunfire. He doesn't want anything to happen
to the painting or to the Bob Whitman exactly.

Speaker 3 (47:59):
So he's not carrying a bulletproof drug.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
Rude, No, definitely not so. The four men they get arrested,
the two Iraqi brothers Baja and Deja, Kudum, an unnamed
Gambian man I couldn't find his name in the press,
and the Swedish national Sasha Lingrin, the son of Kostoff,
the Bulgarian drug dealer. They all get busted. This is
now September two thousand and five, and the press finally
gets the full story. The world learns that the two

(48:21):
missing masterpieces have both been safely recovered. Renoir's young Parisian
was obviously recovered in la and that arrest led to
a tip that allowed the FBI, along with the Swedes
and the Danes, to run their sting operation six months
later in Copenhagen. And then that nets the final masterpiece,
the self portrait of Rembrandt. Yeah, the Danes obviously are
only too happy to report the final stolen painting is

(48:42):
unharmed after it's four and a half years in the wild.
In fact, it was still in its original frame. Nobody
even took it out of their frame. No. So Meanwhile,
back in Stockholm, the head of research for the Swedish
National Museum, gorrel Kavali Bjorkman. He tells reporters that I
jumped with Joy. I had expected it would be recovered
at some point. I was just hoping we would get

(49:03):
it back before I retired, which just goes back to
what Thomas Hall, the professor of art at Stockholm University said.
I'm not sure if you remember. Yeah, he said, the
whole robbery is absurd. The paintings will eventually return to
the museum. No collector wants to buy something that you
can't show. Professor Hall was right in all three counts. A,
The robbery was absurd. B. The paintings did eventually return

(49:24):
to the museum. And lastly, see no collector bought any
of the three stolen paintings, because that only ever happens
where in the movies.

Speaker 3 (49:31):
Is true? It's true.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
So Elizabeth, what's a ridiculous takeaway?

Speaker 5 (49:35):
Ah?

Speaker 3 (49:35):
Yeah, yay, that was a good art crime. I think
I think doing crime in Sweden might be a good idea.

Speaker 2 (49:42):
Dude, sister, don't get me started. Like, the more I
do research about going to prison, I'm like, I only
want to do crime in Europe. It doesn't matter if
it's France, Sweden, Belgium, even Germany. I don't really want
to maybe go to our Russian prison. I think there's
somebody Eastern European wants and maybe a little hard on me, yeah,
but a lot of the like West during the Northern
European countries concepts are like, I'm like, real, this sounds

(50:07):
to me like what I would pay for from a gym.
It's incredible. So my ridiculous takeaway, thanks for asking, Elizabeth,
other than me wanting to do crimes in Europe is
can you believe that these three paintings get stolen? Some
of them spend four and a half four years, four
and a half years and no damage. Out of all three,
there's like one slight scratch on one that was it

(50:30):
that blows me away, Like because obviously they didn't care.
They wrapped one up and a towel, stuffed it in
like a plastic shopping bag and kept it in a basement.
Amazing you ever talk to like art preprayers or her stores,
and they're always very delicate, the white gloves and everything.
These guys are like, yeah, just trying not to get like,
don't spill any beer on it. So there you go.

(50:50):
You know you in the mood for a talk back.
I am what do you got for us? Produce a
d O? God? I went you.

Speaker 7 (51:08):
Hi, Saren and Elizabeth. My name is Lindsay, and I
love your show so much. But I wanted to honor
my father who said ridiculous things like I'm on him
like white on rice, I'm on it like a cheap suit,
and told me my grandmother invented the Nike swoosh and
that we were related to Mark Twain, And whenever I
would call him, he would always say I'm above ground
and taking nourishment, which I had never heard anyone else

(51:30):
say until you did. So thank you on the anniversary
of his passing for bringing him close again.

Speaker 3 (51:37):
Oh I love you guys. Oh thank you for that
look a kindred spirit above ground and taking nurishment. That's
that's more wholesome than my above ground and getting paid.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
Well, that's I have. The Midwestern family also.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
Like inventing the Nike Twain what an incredible guy. Doesn't matter,
it's a good story. I thank you for that. Everybody
give a moment for Pops. Big no to Pops. I'm
a great guy. Thank you, you know. I also we
got an update from our pal who got hacked.

Speaker 5 (52:16):
Hey, guys, I just want to give you an update
on the hacker situation. And I have got back like
half of my stuff thanks to help from friends and family.
And I just want you too to know that you
have such a massive impact on everywhere, on everybody. So

(52:37):
I guess all I gotta say is I'll see you
next time.

Speaker 3 (52:44):
Most people don't get anything, and friends and family stepping
up a good community. That makes me so happy. I
think this has been bothering me, Yes that I have been.
In fact that not too long after we heard it,
I opened my laptop and I was like, oh my god,
what if I opened it there's I just like my
heart sank so totally. Oh my god, I'm so happy.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
No superstar for your brother. Gratulations well done. Okay, that's
a well. As always, you can find us online Ridiculous
Crime on Instagram, blue Sky. We have our account Ridiculous
Crime Pod on YouTube. We have the website ridiculous Crime
dot com where there's gifts for you. It's a whole
museum of early gifts. And also there's the merch that

(53:27):
so I think we're gonna be adding some new merch soon.
I don't know about that, but I've heard rumors from
the interns at there working on You know what.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
I'm just going to go in there and make some
messed up T shirts. That's threatening to do.

Speaker 2 (53:38):
Hell, yes, Elizabeth, Yeah, you know what your best self
I am.

Speaker 3 (53:42):
I'm going to lean in.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
Yeah. We also, obviously we absolutely love your talkbacks. They
mean the world to us. So please go to the
iHeart app downloaded leave a talkback. We would love to
hear your voice here and thank you for all the
people who do. It means that the world to us.
And also you can always email us if you want.
If your old school, go to ridiculous Crime at gmail
dot com. We very much enjoy those as well. So

(54:04):
thank you all for listening and we will catch you
next crime. Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and
Zarin Burnett, produced and edited by the authenticator of Dope
Beats for the Russian Mafia Dave Coustin and starring analyst
Rutger as Judith. Research is by our resident Professors of

(54:26):
all Things Ridiculous and Criminal, Marissa Brown and Jabbari Davis.
Our theme song is by our house band, Swedish Motor
both aka Thomas Lee and Travis Dutton. The host wardrobe
provided by Botany five hundred guest Hara, makeup by Sparkle.
Shott and mister Andre. Executive producers are the only two
men in the market for a stolen European masterpiece if

(54:46):
you happen to have one for sale, Ben Bolin and
Noel Brown.

Speaker 6 (54:56):
RIDI Why More Time, Ridiqulitious Crime.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. Four more podcasts
from iHeartRadio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.