Only Idiots Rob Banks
In Foreign Policy, a reformed stolen art dealer talks:

FP: What typically happens to famous or iconic works of art after they are stolen?

AH: When they get them, they can be exchanged for an amount of drugs which can then be sold. They can be sold to what’s called a “criminal venture capitalist” who might, let’s say, give $1 million for the painting, and then there’s a $5 million reward for them. Even if it takes five years [to sell], that’s a 500 percent return on investment. Say I’m a drug importer and you come to me with those pictures and I give you $1 million worth of Class A drugs to sell. I would then pass them on to a criminal venture capitalist or to someone else to settle a debt, and that’s how they change hands. Sometimes, they’ll put it away as a bargaining chip and then later on they might offer it back to get a lesser sentence for something else.
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FP: So stolen art is like a form of currency?

AH: Yes, it is. I mean, the mainstream media whores always run out the same line that, “Oh, they’ll never be able to sell it. There’s no market.” I understand why they do that, but it’s a bit disingenuous. Sure, they won’t sell famous art for market value. But if you’ve got four men who steal four pictures in a half-hour heist, plus planning, and sell it for a million, that’s $250,000 for a very small amount of work. Robbers that used to go into a bank or hold up an armored truck found it very difficult to escape and found that they would get very big sentences. But if an armed robber goes into a museum and makes off with art, he can get a similar type of return for a lot less risk, and if he gets caught, the actual penalties are a slap on the wrist. Those guys who took The Scream in Norway? One guy got six years, and one got four years. That’s not really a deterrent, is it?

FP: Back when you were in the business, were you ever approached about buying art of that value?

AH: Well, there was one painting that was stolen that was valued at £5 million. I paid $20,000 for it and sold it for $100,000 within two days. I made $80,000 in two days, and I didn’t care that it was worth £5 million. To be honest with you, the kind of stuff we’re talking about now, Vermeer and all that, I would put that in a class I call “headache stuff.” I’d much rather deal with a $100,000 piece of silver or $20,000 bits and pieces, but lots of it.

New Shelton wet/dry