He went undercover to catch art thieves. Now he's using tech to stop forgeries
Over the course of his nearly 30 years working as an undercover agent with the FBI, Walker had taken part in countless stings like this: posing as a buyer or dealer, meeting suspects in art-scented lounges or dusty storage units, working to earn their trust. He caught Warhol counterfeiters slapping fake signatures over bogus canvases. He helped recover stolen Rembrandt paintings from a Seattle-area art thief. He spent months earning the trust of Earl Marshawn Washington, the now-infamous printmaker and forger who created and sold thousands of knockoffs.
The Bouaziz case stood out only for how little effort it seemed to require. His Palm Beach gallery peddled fakes—Georgia O'Keeffe, Keith Haring, and Banksy among them— marketing inexpensive reproductions as originals, aided by bogus provenance documents and falsified signatures. His con worked well, for a while at least: Pieces could fetch prices into the tens or even hundreds of thousands.
Walker knew how that line worked. As a founding member of the FBI's Art Crime Team, he'd gone undercover in dozens of operations. Formed in 2004 in response to the looting of Iraqi museums and growing international art trafficking, the Art Crime Team was designed as a specialized unit of agents trained in cultural property law, art history, and international smuggling.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nine-year-old girl ‘shot in planned assassination of rival gang members'
A nine-year-old girl was shot in the head when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire during 'a planned assassination' of rival gang members, a court has heard. The girl was seriously injured when some of the bullets from the drive-by shooting missed their target as she was eating dinner with her family at the Evin restaurant in Kingsland High Street in Dalston, east London, on May 29 least year, the Old Bailey heard. A bullet lodged in her brain while three other men – Mustafa Kiziltan, Kenan Aydogdu and Nasser Ali, who were seated with others at a pavement table outside the busy restaurant – were hit on various parts of their bodies. Javon Riley, 33, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of attempted murder together with others and an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent against the girl, who cannot be named because of her age. It is alleged he played 'a key role before, during and after the shooting'. Riley, of Tottenham, north London, carried out reconnaissance of the restaurant, travelled past the scene several times to ensure the target or targets were present before the shooting and he helped the gunman evade capture, it is alleged. The gunman has never been tracked down. On Tuesday, prosecutor James Mulholland KC said: 'The prosecution case is that this was a planned assassination of members of a rival gang by Mr Riley and others. 'This is evident from the degree of planning involved, his behaviour and comments before, during and after the event – as well as common sense. 'Those who wanted this shooting to take place put the planning of the event under Mr Riley's control, possibly with the assistance of others.' Mr Mulholland added that the shooting appeared to have been part of 'an ongoing dispute' between two rival groups in London known as the Tottenham Turks and the Hackney Turks, also known as the 'Bombacilars', but the 'immediate reason for it was unknown'. He said: 'These two gangs have had an intense rivalry for well over a decade which has involved the use of extreme violence towards one another during that period, and it is the prosecution case that what was intended was the murder of whomever was targeted.' Those seated outside restaurant had affiliations towards the Hackney Turks and the ones who had ordered the shooting were from the Tottenham Turks, the prosecution say. Mr Mulholland told the jury: 'You will hear in conversations covertly recorded in a car used by Javon Riley some time after the shooting that, although he was not a member of the Tottenham Turks, he clearly knew of them and was linked to them and that they were behind the shooting.' It is not suggested that Riley fired the shots from the Ducati Monster motorbike which stopped briefly on the road outside the restaurant. Jurors were told the rider 'raised his right arm and fired six shots in quick succession' which hit the three men sitting in a group outside, but also struck the little girl. She has had to endure several intensive operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the first had to be carried out the day after the shooting. Mr Mulholland said: 'Sections of her skull were removed to relieve swelling to the brain and these have since been replaced with a titanium plate. She was in hospital for three months before being allowed to return home. 'Although she has made a relatively good recovery, she will continue to have physical and cognitive difficulties throughout her life.' The wounded men were taken to Royal London Hospital where each was operated upon for serious injuries caused by bullet wounds to thigh, leg and backbone respectively. Each appears to have made 'a reasonable recovery'. It is claimed that Riley was 'vital in the carrying out of the plan to kill'. The court heard that after the shooting, the gunman rode the motorbike to a nearby street where Riley was waiting in a stolen Nissan Juke on false plates before they 'calmly' headed to north London before transferring into Riley's Range Rover. Covert police recordings in the months after the shooting, show Riley talking about a man called Izzet Eren, who is linked to the Tottenham Turks and was shot in Moldova on July 10 last year in what was believed to be a revenge attack. He also spoke about a man called 'Kem', whom the prosecution believe is Kemal Eren – one of those closely involved in the Tottenham Turks.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Machete attacker jailed for life for killing promising footballer
A machete-wielding attacker has been jailed for life for killing a promising footballer. Oguzcan Dereli accidentally dropped his mobile phone moments before he fatally stabbed 20-year-old Abdul-Latif Pouget in Clerkenwell, central London. Following an Old Bailey trial, Dereli, 27, of Islington, north London, was found guilty of murder and possession of an offensive weapon. On Tuesday Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC jailed Dereli for life with a minimum term of 24 years. She told him: 'We shall probably never know why you chose to get out of your car that night and run over and stab Mr Pouget.' Mr Pouget, who dreamed of becoming a professional footballer, was described in court as a 'talented and gifted' player and a 'role model'. His mother Kawsar Pouget said: 'It feels like every one of us has been stabbed and many of us – if given the chance – would have taken that wound ourselves if it had meant Abs could still be here.' Previously, prosecutor Danny Robinson KC had said Mr Pouget was riding a moped in Clerkenwell and stopped on Back Hill, near Farringdon station, at about 9.27pm last October 18. Less than a minute later, a blue Ford estate driven by Dereli turned into the road and stopped. Mr Robinson had told jurors: 'He got out of the car and as he did so he dropped his mobile phone. He did not realise that he had dropped it. 'As he left the car, he had a large machete in his right hand. He ran straight over to Mr Pouget who was still sat on his moped. He struck him with his machete and then stabbed him to his thigh.' The stab severed an artery causing 'instant massive blood loss' and Mr Pouget collapsed on the ground. The defendant got back in the car with the machete and drove off, leaving the victim 'fighting for his life', Mr Robinson said. Members of the public and police officers rushed to help, and Mr Pouget was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to Royal London Hospital where he died the next day. Dereli was quickly identified and was arrested last October 22, although the machete was never found. The defendant's claim to have stabbed Mr Pouget in self-defence was rejected by the jury.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
DNA of woman involved in alleged murder plot ‘found on gun parts sent to UK'
The DNA of an American woman alleged to have been involved in a failed assassination attempt was found on gun parts illegally sent to the UK more than a month later, a court has heard. Aimee Betro, 45, is alleged to have flown from Wisconsin as part of a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam, 56, and Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, of Elms Avenue in Derby, to attack a rival family on September 7 2019. A trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard that Betro disguised her appearance with a niqab when she tried to shoot Sikander Ali at point blank range outside his home in Measham Grove, Birmingham, but the gun jammed, allowing Mr Ali to flee. She is alleged to have returned to the scene hours later in the early hours of September 8 and fired three shots into Mr Ali's house, which was empty at the time, before leaving the UK and flying back to the US the next day. The court heard father and son Aslam and Nazir, who were jailed last year for their part in the bungled assassination plot, were involved in a feud with Mr Ali's father, Aslat Mahumad. Nazir and Aslam had been injured during disorder at Mr Mahumad's clothing boutique in Birmingham in July 2018, which led them to conspire to have someone kill him or a member of his family. Prosecution counsel Tom Walkling KC said on Tuesday that Betro had been involved in 'yet another' of Nazir's plots to get revenge on a rival when she is alleged to have sent three parcels full of ammunition and gun parts to the UK on October 16 2019. The court heard the parts, which were wrapped in foil and paper inside three cardboard boxes, were addressed to a man named Faris Quayum, from Derby, with Nazir tipping off the police with intent to frame him. While the packages were intercepted and Mr Quayum arrested as part of Nazir's 'devious scheme', Mr Walkling said his involvement in the plan eventually came to light. Mr Walkling said a woman, who the prosecution say was Betro, was seen at a post office 100 miles away from her home address in the US posting the parcels under a fake name. He said: 'In the case of each of those three packages, Aimee Betro's DNA has been found on the gun parts and ammunition inside them. There is no doubt, we say, that she handled the contents of those boxes. 'She may not have known the full extent of Nazir's devious scheme, but there is no doubt that when she sent prohibited ammunition into the UK, she broke the law.' Betro was allegedly in Armenia when Nazir was jailed for 32 years and Aslam for 10 years in November, but was returned to the UK in January this year to face her own criminal proceedings. Mr Walkling said: 'The prosecution say that the evidence in this case is compelling and strong. 'Aimee Betro was the would-be assassin on the 7th September 2019. 'She was the shooter on Measham Grove in the early hours of the next day, and she was the person who furthered another of Nazir's vendettas when she sent ammunition to the UK in October 2019.' Betro denies conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol and a charge of fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing ammunition. The trial continues.
