FBI Agent Retires

Art crime is the fourth largest international crime, after drug dealing, gun running and money laundering. It's worth anything from £1bn to £4bn ($1.5bn to $6bn) per year. So, those naive folks who think art can reform criminals and improve society need to wake up. To the bad guys, art is just another form of currency. BBC News Correspondent Simon Worrall has written an informative piece on the retirement of FBI Special Agent Robert "Bob" Wittman, who ran sting operations to recover stolen works of art (title link). This Rembrandt Self-portrait, stolen from The National Museum of Sweden, is one of the paintings Bob recovered. He plans to set himself up as a security expert and spend more time with his family.