Despite having caught the thief and his team, the paintings were never recovered.
Throughout history there have been carried out masterfully executed robberies and that they left a mark on society due to the exposure of the vulnerability of security systems. Whether due to an extremely meticulous plan, an expert criminal, or a facility incapable of caring for the treasures within.
All these factors came together in the famous robbery of the Museum of Modern Art of Paris. More than a decade ago, a “spider man“he knew how to infiltrate and take 100 million euros in emblematic paintings. The most particular thing is that the loot was never recovered despite having caught the thief.
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The Robbery at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris
The night of May 19, 2010“Spider-Man” arrived at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris equipped with specialized tools and gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. He slipped through a security gate and, with incredible precision, broke a window without setting off the alarms. This was possible because the museum’s security system had been broken for weeks, a failure that Tomic had discovered during his multiple previous visits to study the place.
Once inside, he headed straight to the area where some of the museum’s most valuable pieces were on display. As he later confessed, he previously chose the works based on their value and portability. In a matter of minutes, he stole five paintings from PicassoMatisse, Modigliani, Braque and Léger, valued at approximately 100 million euros. The thief carefully removed the paintings from their frames, probably using a cutter so as not to damage the fabrics. This allowed him to transport them easily, rolling them up to hide them in a bag. The operation was so meticulous that no immediate traces of the paintings’ whereabouts or the thief were found.
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What happened to the criminals
The thief left the museum the same way he had entered, slipping through the window again and down the façade of the building without being detected. The entire robbery occurred in less than 15 minutesand the security cameras, although they recorded images of the thief, They did not alert the staff. At dawn, museum employees discovered the theft, with the frames empty and the paintings missing. It was then that the alarms were activated and an investigation began that led to the arrest in 2011 of Vjeran Tomic.
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During the trial, Tomic confessed that he had planned the robbery months in advance, exploring the museum and evaluating their vulnerabilities. He also implicated two other men: an art dealer in charge of finding buyers for the works and an intermediary who hid them.
Tomic and his accomplices They were convicted in 2017. The main thief received a sentence of eight years in prisonwhile the others involved faced lesser penalties. However, the fate of the paintings remains a mystery, as had been destroyed by one of the accomplices in an attempt to hide evidence, according to the criminals.
Source: Ambito
