They took $645 million in valuables. Then they took a taxi.
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, October 12, 2024


They took $645 million in valuables. Then they took a taxi.
Police show a picture of a calligraphy scroll written by Mao Zedong worth about 300 million USD, that had been recovered but found chopped in half following a robbery that included antique stamps and revolutionary items from mainland China worth an estimated 645 million USD, at a press conference in Hong Kong on October 7, 2020. ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP.

by Tiffany May



HONG KONG (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The thieves left by taxi, hauling away $645 million in artifacts they had stolen from a Hong Kong apartment while the owner was in mainland China.

They took 24,000 vintage stamps, 10 bronze coins and seven calligraphy scrolls that the owner, Fu Chunxiao, said had been written by Mao Zedong.

The majority of the stolen items remain missing, but the scroll, measuring 3 yards, found its way to a buyer before it was recovered by police.

“He found the calligraphy piece too long and difficult to display for viewers, so he cut it in two,” Ho Chun-tung, a police superintendent, told reporters this week, referring to the man who allegedly bought the stolen scroll. “Whether he knows the authenticity and value of the calligraphy is something we have to continue investigating.”

On Thursday, police charged a 44-year-old suspect identified only as Wu with burglary. He was arrested in Hong Kong, along with another man identified as Tan, 47, who was accused of harboring “an offender.”

The alleged buyer, a 49-year-old man identified only as Lin, was arrested earlier in September, just after the heist. He was accused of handling stolen goods. Local news outlets said he had paid a mere $65 for the recovered scroll.

The collector, Fu, told The South China Morning Post newspaper that he was devastated by the burglary — and by the damage to the scroll. He said it was the most valuable item among his stolen possessions. Fu put his total losses at $645 million, according to police.




“It was heartbreaking to see it torn into two pieces,” he is quoted as saying about the scroll. “It will definitely affect its value, but the impact remains to be seen.”

A police spokeswoman said by phone that authorities had not independently determined the value of the scroll. Auction houses dealing in Chinese art did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Fu, who is originally from Sichuan province, according to local news reports, could not immediately contacted. He is known as a collector of items from the Mao era. In 2018, Fu organized a Hong Kong exhibition of 200 stamps bearing the face of Mao. (The founding father of the People’s Republic of China, Mao ruled as the chairman of the Communist Party from 1949 until his death in 1976.)

Police said the break in the case occurred when a cabdriver who picked up the men on the day of the burglary came forward with information. Authorities are still looking for two other suspects. The three men arrested so far are originally from mainland China, police said.

Burglaries have recently increased in Hong Kong, rising from 786 cases in 2019 to 1,156 cases in the first half of 2020, according to police statistics. Robberies have also increased fourfold, from 44 cases in 2020 to 186 in the first six months of 2020.

The official residence of the Australian consul general was broken into last Friday. In June, two men scaled 19 stories of bamboo scaffolding to steal a safe deposit box in a wealthy neighborhood of Hong Kong in June. In September, a group robbed a man who was carrying millions of dollars in cash in his backpack.

Burglars have more often targeted unoccupied homes in the Chinese territory, Ho, the senior police superintendent, said. But they are not limited to items of high commercial value.

At the start of the coronavirus outbreak in February, as consumers bought toilet paper in bulk for fear it would run out, three masked robbers stole more than $100 worth of toilet paper outside a supermarket while holding up a deliveryman by knifepoint.

© 2020 The New York Times Company










Today's News

October 11, 2020

They took $645 million in valuables. Then they took a taxi.

Fabergé family archive bequeathed and handed to the Moscow Kremlin Museums

At a reduced Frieze Week, a focus on Black art

Return looted art to former colonies, Dutch committee tells government

The Helmut Newton Foundation opens 'America 1970s/80s: Hofer, Metzner, Meyerowitz, Newton'

New book offers an original and vivid portrait of David Hockney

Hermann Historica to offer works of art & antiquities in the 83rd Auction

Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe present COLONY SOUND at ARoS Aarhus Art Museum

First ever copy of The Who's 1965 My Generation album to go up for auction

A famed horror director mines Japan's real-life atrocities

Banksy bonanza at Bonhams

Kapwani Kiwanga presents a site-specific installation at Haus der Kunst

Phillips partners with Hall Art Foundation to offer works to benefit the Dreyfoos School of the Arts

Big gems cap Heritage's $7.36 million fall jewelry auction

Christie's to offer a selection of works from a beautiful property in the heart of Seville

Louise Glück, a Nobel winner whose poems have abundant intellect and deep feeling

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac opens an exhibition of works by Yan Pei-Ming

A YouTuber hangs his own shingle with an auction website

MacDougall's auction of Russian art features 200 lots ranging from icons to contemporary art

Burchard Galleries offers lifelong collections of important treasures

Newly commissioned project from St. Louis artist brings Augmented Reality to Laumeier Sculpture Park

Gene Cernan's notes for his speech delivered during his final moonwalk of Apollo 17 up for auction

Fiona Banner and Greenpeace complete underwater barrier to trawling with installation at sea

Exhibition of works by Philippe Favier opens at the Art and Archaeology Museum of Valence

Want To Add Gucci Sunglasses For Men Into Your Collection? Here Are 5 Tips

Art Quotes from Famous Artists for Happy Life and Healing




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful