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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