A Boston federal jury has indicted a West Virginia man on charges he tried to sell paintings he did not have access to and falsely claimed were stolen in the largest art heist in U.S. history.
Prosecutors allege that 47-year-old Todd Desper, of Beckley, West Virginia, solicited buyers on Craigslist for two paintings he claimed were among 13 stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.
Authorities say they determined Desper had no access to the paintings and was engaged in a multimillion dollar fraud scheme targeting foreign art buyers.
The FBI has said two suspects who masqueraded as police officers to rob the museum of $500 million worth of masterpieces are deceased.
Desper was indicted Thursday on wire fraud charges. His attorney couldn’t immediately be reached on Saturday.
Topics Massachusetts
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Impersonation Top Scam Handled by Allstate 
OpenAI Sued Over Claim That ChatGPT Drafted Lethal NC Poisoning Plan 
Manufacturers Hammer IBHS Over 15-Year Roof Age Limit for Fortified Designation 
Insurtech Lemonade Posts $43.7M Loss for Q3 
