Police recover stolen paintings
Four men being held
The police yesterday recovered the 30 paintings stolen earlier this month from the private collection of Judge Giovanni Bonello in a haul which included a priceless Caravaggio.
Most of the paintings, reported stolen from a house in Old Bakery Street in Valletta on April 5, were found behind a false wall in a garage in Canon Pirotta Street, Birkirkara.
The Caravaggio was found in a storage space under a bed in a house, also in Birkirkara.
The house and garage belong to one of four men being held by the police in connection with the find. The age of those arrested ranges from 29 to 45 and all of them are from Birkirkara, Police Commissioner John Rizzo said yesterday.
Flanked at a news conference by Deputy Commissioner Joe Cachia, Assistant Commissioner Emanuel Cassar and Inspector Michael Mallia, Mr Rizzo said confidential information had led to the find.
He said the Criminal Investigation Department had conducted intensive investigations after the theft was reported, but acting on information received over the past weekend the matter took a new twist and arrests were made.
Mr Rizzo expressed great satisfaction that the police managed to retrieve all the stolen works, considered "priceless patrimony".
Apart from the work by Caravaggio, there were also pieces by Caruana Dingli, Willie Apap, Paladini and Solemana.
Their theft had been discovered by Anna Xuereb, Judge Bonello's sister, who paid regular visits to the residence of their late father Vincenzo, while Judge Bonello is abroad. He sits on the European Court of Human Rights and is based in Strasbourg, France. His father was the curator of the Museum of Fine Arts between 1926 and 1937.
The police also found a number of old medallions that had not been reported stolen from Judge Bonello's collection. It has yet to be established whether these were part of the collection or whether they were from another theft. It is not unusual for people not to realise exactly what has gone missing after a large theft.
Mr Rizzo said the security services lent a helping hand in the investigations.
It was still too early to be able to say whether the theft was commissioned or whether the thieves stole them and were waiting to find a buyer, Mr Rizzo said. It appeared that all the paintings had been stolen in one go.
The thieves managed to gain entry to the building by lifting a metal grill in the pavement, which led to the cellar situated under the entrance hall of the house. They used building jacks to prop up the roof and then pushed up a stone slab and climbed into the hall.
They selected a number of paintings from the collection, removed them from their frame and made their way out through the front door of the building.