Art theft case takes new turn

Art theft case takes new turn

JAKARTA (JP): A Singaporean art collector who recently handed
over five stolen paintings to Jakarta is now wanted by the
Indonesian police for allegedly selling at least 25 paintings
stolen from the National Museum here.

The suspect, whose identity was kept secret in regards to the
recent return of the five paintings, has now been identified by
police as Michael Lee, a Singaporean citizen who works as an
executive of a large business group in Jakarta.

Police have accused Lee of purchasing a number of paintings
directly from four employees of the museum, who stole the
artworks.

All four employees have been detained since Monday. However,
Lee, who has rented a house at the elite Pondok Indah housing
complex in South Jakarta since 1983, is strongly believed to be
in hiding in Singapore.

"We have no extradition treaty with Singapore, but we have a
close cooperation through the Interpol ties with the police
there. That's why we're definitely sure we could get the suspect
to be tried here," National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Dibyo Widodo
told reporters yesterday.

According to the head of the Indonesian CID police, Brig. Gen.
Rusdihardjo, 22 of the 25 stolen paintings were already in the
possession of the police.

"They include five paintings handed over by Lee last week and
17 others found at his house here," Rusdihardjo told a press
conference held earlier yesterday.

The officer believed that the other three paintings were also
in the suspected fencer's possession.

The Singaporean, he said, was listed as a wanted person in the
case shortly after police detectives found 17 other paintings
Thursday at the house he rented on Jl. Bukit Hijau IX/40 at the
Pondok Indah complex.

"Witnessed by his servant and the head of the local
neighborhood, we conducted the raids in a very careful manner to
prevent any complaints later," said the top police detective in
the country.

Head of the National Museum, Suwati Kartiwa, said four of the
17 paintings seized from Lee's residence were among the 12 stolen
paintings reported missing by the museum recently.

"The other 13 paintings have been identified by our curators
as those belonging to the National Museum," she said.

They are Ny. Beni Suherman, by R. Basoeki Abdullah, Montmartre
and Rue A Pontoise by Maurice Utrillo, Les Adiux by Pigasso, La
Partie De Campagne, by H. DE Toulouse, Collection Particuliere
Londrez, by Cezanne, Vase Et Mandolin, by Fernand Leger, Koleksi
56 by an anonymous artist, a painting of a woman by Renoir, a
forest painting by Ikinigan, a portrait of a woman by an
anonymous artist and two other paintings of a woman's head also
by anonymous artists.

The 13 paintings are believed to be from an old and valuable
collection of the State Museum.

It remains unknown whether they were also stolen from the
museum together with the other 12 paintings.

"The investigation is still going on and we've yet to nab the
suspected owner," said Rusdihardjo.

Seven of the 12 paintings are the work of Indonesian masters,
while the remaining five are by French artists. All of the
paintings, also categorized as part of the state collection, were
kept temporarily along with many other artworks at the museum,
pending the establishment of a national art gallery.

The seven works of local masters are Portrait of a Dutch
Governor Wearing the Willems Order, by legendary master Raden
Saleh, Parangtritis, Kawah Tangkuban Perahu, and Wadjah Diri dan
Topeng, by Affandi, A Nude, and an untitled painting by Basoeki
Abdullah and Mbah Irosentono, by Trubus Sudarsono.

As reported earlier, the first five paintings, which were to
have been auctioned by Christie's at its Oct. 6 sale in
Singapore, were already returned to the Indonesian government
last Thursday after tough negotiations with Lee's lawyer, Liem
Seng Siew.

The two other works, Basoeki's untitled painting and Mbah
Irosentono, are still missing.

The five foreign paintings are Alerte Aerienne by Charles
Walch, La Maison on Briques by Yves Fancheur, Village Provencal
by Raymond Moisset, an untitled painting by Paul Collomb and
Jacqueline en Robe de Taffetas by Albert Andre.

The first four paintings were confiscated at Lee's house,
while Andre's work is still missing.

The officer said Lee purchased all 12 paintings from the
suspected thieves for Rp 21.5 million (US$9,188).

According to Sukawati, Lee told her he intended to give more
Indonesian paintings to her if the government paid him S$200,000.
(bsr)

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