By Ariel Wright | Reporter
Robert Wittman, retired FBI agent, established author, business owner and television personality, gave a presentation including many details from his esteemed career in public service Thursday. The New York Times best-selling author detailed some of his experiences busting art frauds.
According to Wittman, throughout his 20-year career as an FBI Special Agent, his focus was on the social interests behind stolen art.
“When a piece of cultural heritage goes missing, we all suffer. It’s a loss for all of us,” Wittman said. “And so, these pieces represent some of the genius of civilization, and as a result, it was always important to me to get the material back before even arresting anybody.”
According to the FBI, an estimated $4 billion to $6 billion of art has been stolen each year in the 21st century. In an Atlantic article detailing the career and expertise of Wittman in the field of art recovery, it is cited that only 1.5% of stolen art is ever recovered.
“I think of art theft as a very rare occurrence that you’d only see in movies or books, but to hear that it actually happens and that he met the people who do it is cool,” Memphis, Tenn., senior Mallory Maddox said.
Many imagine art thieves to be refined, sneaky and almost spy-like criminals sneaking through the world’s most protected museums. However, Wittman said many art thieves only dabbled in stealing art, often participating in other illicit activities.
“Many times these cases were called gateway crimes; in other words, these groups were doing all different types of crimes, gun running, drug smuggling, that type of thing,” Wittman said. “So, and it would just happen to be an art theft too.”
Maddox said she found Wittman’s experience in the FBI and his involvement in many television shows and documentaries to be intriguing. Wittman has provided his expertise on over 19 shows in his career and has more to come.
Wittman broke down the significance of fakes, forgeries and frauds in a day and age where the value of fine art has reached a premium. For example, the art piece titled Georges Seurat, Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version), 1888, sold for $149,240,000 in 2018.
As the profit there is to gain from art theft and forgery increases, so does the possible gain for criminals keen on getting in on the profit.
“If there is an opportunity to make money, people are going to do it. Regardless of the ethics,” Maddox said.
