United States Prosecutor's Office and the FBI announced the presentation of the prosecution Marcoussis Petmonu (Marcus Patmon), tried to fraudulently sell stolen etching of Pablo Picasso (Pablo Picasso) «scanty meal». This work, which is estimated to cost 300 thousand dollars, was stolen May 22, 2008 from an art gallery in City of West Palm Beach (Florida) .

According to charges, Petmon with knowledge of the illicit origin of the prints, described as its present owner in order to mislead the potential buyer. They had worked under cover spetsagent FBI, which is from July to September 2008 led to the accused negotiations over the sale. Now the 38-year-old Petmonu living in Miami, faces up to 20 years imprisonment. In addition, he is obliged to return the stolen etching, as well as pay a fine of 250 thousand dollars and forced the tax levy of $ 100.

current United States Attorney David Weiss (David Weiss) said: «The investigation and subsequent trial demonstrate our interest in combating the illegal sale of stolen works of art - the problem of international scope. I am very pleased with the work of law enforcement personnel and FBI agents involved in crimes in the sphere of art: carefully conducted their investigation helped to expose this fraud. We will continue to take resolute measures against crimes related to the arts ».

material produced Catherine Onuchin, AI

Sources: artdaily.com , artknowledgenews.com , artinvestment.ru