All language subtitles for American Greed s01e01 Hook, Line And Sucker-Maxfield Parish Art Heist.eng

In this episode of American Greed... He
was a good fisherman. He won

tournaments. He turned the boat around
to get that fish. He had to get it.

Hunt is an expert fisherman, angling for
big money and reeling them in hook,

line, and sun.

He wanted anything in the thousands.

Literally, people are throwing money at
this guy.

And you always get paid until the day
you didn't get paid, and then that was

end of the game.

And later, a daring art heist that pays
off big.

It was probably the worst experience of
our lives.

Thieves steal four million dollars in
art.

And American Greed has behind -the
-scenes footage from inside the crime

Who would steal these paintings? Is it
someone that covets them and wants to

them?

Coastal New Hampshire, where old money
meets small -town charm.

Well, it's a very nice, upscaled
neighborhood.

An upscaled neighborhood peopled with
upstanding citizens, like Dr.

John Riddell.

That's Barry Hunt's house right there.

Barry Hunt is a larger -than -life local
character.

He owns a thriving fishing supply
business. He travels the world in search

largemouth bass.

And he's always quick with a fishing
story.

Barry, I met soon after I moved here in
1983.

Nice enough fellow, soft -spoken, seemed
knowledgeable about general items of

conversation of the day, and I kind of
liked him.

In the fall of 1983, Barry Hunt tells
Dr. Riddell about a hot new startup.

He had come across, as I recall, a
person who was going out of business who

a number of electronic... triangulation
devices, fish finders, and things of

that nature. He was going out of
business, needed money, wanted to unload

and Barry had already, through his
contacts in the fishing world, had a

online in another state.

So it was just a matter of putting
together a little cash, and profit would

quickly and at a very good percentage.

For whatever the figure was, $2 ,500, I
decided to take the chance. And in six

weeks, I had my investment and some
profit back.

We're crossing the Exeter River here.
Dr. Riddell is hooked, and so are many

others in Exeter. They're doctors,
lawyers, business owners.

Certainly the first time I'm aware of
Barry Hunt is in a regular Wednesday

poker game.

Ron Willett is an accountant in Exeter.
In 1986,

Barry Hunt joins his poker group.

Before long, Hunt has established a
ritual.

Every few weeks, he hands some of the
guys in the group a manila envelope

stuffed with cash.

So, of course, when you see a great
number of $100 bills changing hands, you

can't help but ask, say, oh, what's
going on? Hunt tells Ouellette that he

a company called Sports Liquidation.
After hearing the pitch about buying

distressed marine supplies, Ouellette
decides to take the plunge.

I think in part, having seen other
people already get paid a couple of

made me a little less anxious about it.
But I decided to take a chance, and so I

did a small deal.

I'm going to go low. Ouellette gets out
his checkbook and cuts a check to Barry

Hunt. You've got to put money in,
though. Exactly six weeks later, Hunt

the goods.

And the money was always in cash, and
the cash would be, here's your $800

here's a $10 ,000 check.

Or would you like to re -up for another
deal?

Quantum cards in play.

Willette re -ups, and eventually he's on
the line for $20 ,000.

He was a good fisherman. He won
tournaments.

Carl Woofter is a salesman of fishing
equipment who makes regular calls on

Hunt. Over time, he becomes increasingly
curious about Hunt's company, Sports

Liquidation. I don't think he ever
pitched it. I think that after you sat

office or you hang around, you kind of
knew something was going on, and it

looked like there was money being made.

And, of course, there were papers laying
around, and there were numbers on

papers, and not that you would sit there
and try to look at them, but they were

right in front of you.

So I don't know if I asked the question
or he asked the question. I think

probably I said, what's going on?

And with that, the fishing supply
salesman puts himself on the hook.

Christmas came every 60 days.

And as you made money, of course, you
were more willing to part with more

Before long, Woofter is in for more than
$100 ,000.

All told, more than 50 people have
invested in sports liquidation to the

about $2 million.

Everyone was doing it. It was fun.

I guess maybe kids going to Disneyland,
you know, you're wide -eyed. Well, this

is a whole bunch of cash, and $100 bills
just light up anybody's eyes.

It seemed to be quite a reliable
operation, and so one thing led to

of course they grew in value.

I thought I was an entrepreneur.

All along, when I would talk to people,
we'd say, this is too good to be true,

so someday it's got to go bad.

Some investors, like Carl Woofter, have
their doubts and occasionally put Hunt

to the test.

I would go to him and say, you know, I
need that money. I need $30 ,000

tomorrow. I've got to have it for
something else.

He'd always get it.

Somewhere along the way, we nicknamed
Barry Slippery.

Ron Willett also begins to get an uneasy
feeling about Barry Hunt.

The nickname really had to do with how
he was playing poker. He would very

make a mistake in how much money he
would put in the pot.

The mistake was always too few chips.

Maybe I didn't want to find a floor.

Meanwhile, other investors are now
betting more chips than ever on sports

liquidation. The total figure that I
thought I had invested with him was

$140 ,000.

And while that money should have gone
into a retirement fund and for college

funds for my kids, I also felt maybe I
can make a little bit more money on this

and investing it in something that seems
pretty secure and do better for

them.

In the spring of 1989,

Hunt tells investors he's lined up a
spectacular deal, but he needs an

extraordinary amount of capital to make
it all work.

I guess his final go -around with a lot
of people was to just present them with

such an outrageous deal that they had to
come up with every cent they could come

up with.

Ron Roulette smells a rat and decides to
pull the majority of his money out of

the pot.

Maybe I'm just feeling the right vibes
and probably just being a little lucky.

Other investors will not be so lucky.

When it was detected that there may be a
problem with the accounts, when the

accounts were closed, the account was
short a million dollars or more.

In Exeter, New Hampshire, the halo
around local businessman Barry Hunt has

some of its luster.

Hunt's firm, Sports Liquidation, has
been giving its investors huge profits,

the dividend checks have arrived like
clockwork.

Now those checks are bouncing.

I think the check that was returned was
probably in the $300 ,000 range, which

certainly is going to get everybody's
attention.

Bank East Vice President Peter Anderson
takes a closer look at Barry Hunt's

checking account.

He doesn't like what he sees.

Checks coming in, we're coming from one
or two sources in large amounts.

Checks going out, we're going out to one
or two places in large amounts, and

that's just a big red flag for a kite.

Barry Hunt has been passing bad checks.

and covering those checks with more bad
checks, and an elaborate kiting scheme

involving two local banks.

It's like musical chairs. The music
stops, and somebody doesn't have a chair

sit on. In this case, Bank East didn't
have a chair to sit on, and it was a

disappointing, shocking situation.

Back in Exeter, the word is out.

Barry Hunt's paper is no good, and
investors are livid. My concern is,

my money?

Ron Moulette and his friends catch up
with Hunt at a local clam shack.

You know, we're pressing Barry, why
haven't we been paid? Why haven't we

from you? Why? Oh, why?

And Barry engages me in small talk, and
I let him know, Barry, they're getting

concerned. I mean, this could get
uncomfortable.

And Barry, for the first time I've ever
seen him bragging.

It reaches in his pocket, takes out a
very small pistol, and while I think I'm

warning him that it could become
uncomfortable for him, he's letting me

you guys were the ones that most in
harm's way, not me.

A few days after this meeting, Barry
Hunt disappears, and investors call the

cops. They explained to me how they
would give this person, in most cases,

Detective Lally believes Hunt ran a
Ponzi scheme, robbing Peter to pay Paul.

and financing the dividend checks with
the money from new investors.

And because they do so well at the
beginning, more people want to be

it. I mean, literally people are
throwing money at this guy. And

had invested millions of dollars.

FBI agent Thomas Ryan.

You know, in these Ponzi schemes,
usually at some point they just become

to, it's just too difficult to maintain.

And it only takes, you know, one slip
-up and...

The scheme's over with. Ryan begins his
investigation by sifting through the

wreckage of Barry Hunt's bogus paper
trail.

When it was detected that there may be a
problem with the accounts, when the

accounts were closed, the account was
short a million dollars or more.

Over time, investigators believe that
Hunt may have funneled some of that

back to investors to keep the scam
afloat. The rest, however, has already

spent by the con man, or left town when
he did.

What are you going to do?

You knew all along you were taking a
chance.

Many investors, like Carl Woofter, were
always wary of a day of reckoning, but

figured they'd be smart enough to get
out before then.

You know, you want to make the money so
you think it's down the road where

you'll be out of it, but then who would
ever jump out if you're making 10 % even

on money in 60 days?

And you always get paid until the day
you didn't get paid, and then that was

That was the end of the game.

Ron Moulette was one of the lucky ones.

When all gets said and done, I was in
there for $5 ,000.

A bad feeling about Hunt compelled this
veteran poker player to pull most of his

chips out of the game before the con
man's house of cards collapsed.

I think all of us were aware the deal
was too good to be true.

And yet we saw that we were getting
money.

We knew the money we were getting was
real.

The story had some aspects of it that
sounded real.

And so you convince yourself it's okay
to do this.

For others, the situation is far more
sobering.

This is my daughter, Christina.

She's the youngest. She's 17.

And she's the one who's about to go to
college.

Dr. John Riedel lost his daughter's
college fund.

That tuition would have been in the bank
had it not been for Barry, and now

we're going to have to find it
somewhere.

Riddell has socialized and fished with
Hunt.

Now he realizes Hunt was actually
fishing for him.

But I think he's pathologic in a sense,
and it all extends back to his

personality as a professional bass
fisherman, I think.

If he saw a bass on a nest and that fish
didn't take his lure,

He'd have to go back. He turned the boat
around to get that fish. He had to get

it. There was something in him. He
didn't want that fish to get away.

And I think he was doing the same thing
with people. He had become a fisher of

men in an evil way.

So where is the fisherman con artist?

Investigators are short on clues and
long on speculation.

I think the trail went cold pretty
quickly because as well as a lot of

thought they knew him, in the final
analysis, they really...

Didn't know much about him. Well, yeah,
some people thought somebody caught up

with him and finished him off, or that
he was in South America, maybe died of

malaria hiding in the jungles.

We knew that he had gone out of the
country a lot for these fishing

I guess he went to Costa Rica quite a
bit. And so there was some speculation

that he might have gone down there to
hide out.

But Barry Hunt has not been bumped off
by the mob, nor is he in Costa Rica.

He's alive and well and fishing in a new
pond.

It seems to be every day we learn of a
new victim, a new victim, a new victim.

For more information and special web
exclusives, log on to AmericanGreed

.com.

Reno, Nevada.

The bright lights beckon, promising
quick, easy money.

Jim Helgett is at the center of the
action.

From this perch, the dealer gets a real
-world education into the art and

science of gambling. When to hold them,
when to fold them, and when to put some

money on a long shot.

He owned a company, or he said he owned
a company called Tool Search.

He is Jonathan Firestone.

a poker player who the dealer met
through some mutual friends.

When a truck overturns or a train goes
off the rails, Firestone's company, Tool

Search, swoops down, salvages the cargo,
and resells the goods for a big profit.

He had a good pitch, and it sounded like
he had more business than he knew what

to do with.

All right, showtime, guys.

Helget's friends are already making
money investing in Tool Search.

And so the dealer decides to get in the
game.

Aces win.

He buys $5 ,000 worth of chips and puts
them all on tool search.

For me, it was, gosh, it was working out
for all these guys that had a lot of

money, and I felt like, you know, hey,
I'm just a small guy, but I'm playing

with the big guys and making money.

But the gamblers have no idea that
Jonathan Firestone is actually the

Barry Richard Hunt.

A man with a joker up his sleeve and
scores of defrauded investors in his

pocket. I mean, it wasn't like he was
one of these flashy, suave kind of

Patricia Patton is a massage therapist
who met Firestone at a poker tournament.

He said, I could let you come in for a
small amount.

He said, you know, I know, I realize you
probably don't have much to invest,

but, you know, I like to help out. I
like to be able to help out people.

Patton is starting a new business, and
money is tight.

She decides to give what little she has
to invest in tool search.

Oh, I think it started out with like $3
,000.

I made about, what, $300?

And, you know, he said, you know, do you
want your principal back or do you want

me to roll it over? And I was like, oh,
let's roll it over.

And, I mean, I did it for a while, and
when it kept working really good, you

know, I mentioned it to a couple of
friends.

Word of tool search success is spreading
in Reno, and Jonathan Firestone is

becoming a very popular man.

Well, the first time I actually spoke to
Jonathan, he had just bought his BMW,

and he said it was for his 50th birthday
present to himself.

And I said it was a pretty car, and
that's how we started talking.

Elaine Nelson lived with Jonathan
Firestone.

She invested $15 ,000 in his company and
introduced him to her friends and

family. He always wanted to know more
people.

He always questioned me about other
people I might know that were interested

doing the same thing that I had done.

He could always talk, you know, kind of
connect with a lot of people.

Suzette is a friend of Elaine's and
fellow stakeholder in Tool Search.

It was kind of like, well, okay, you
know, for the first time.

It was just kind of, okay, we can try it
and see, because we kind of trusted

John.

Suzette eventually invested $36 ,000,
and for a time, it seemed like money

spent. In the short run, it was good. It
seemed like it was good.

I mean, we always got a good percentage
back. It was always a quick turnaround.

You know, it seemed like it was good,
and it was nice.

And life is very good for Tool Search
CEO Jonathan Firestone.

He lives on a golf course, drives a BMW.

and travels the world flying first
class.

For Elaine, the life of luxury comes
with one string attached.

Firestone insists that she not ask about
his business.

I didn't question.

He would tell me that money was coming
in, so we were living a great life.

The house payment was being paid, you
know.

I did my own thing. He did his. That was
our relationship.

Everybody check. But every now and
again, an investor decides to put

in the hot seat.

Okay, you bet two or you fold.

In the fall of 2002, Jim Helgut contacts
Firestone and asks for all his money

back. Check. I did it to test him. I
told him that, hey, you know, it's tax

and I really need some money. Two bucks.

Probably in a very short time. Actually,
it was probably two weeks.

I had all my money out.

Helgut is now more satisfied than ever.

That tool search is on the up and up.

He jumps back into the game to get in on
Firestone's next big deal.

Yeah, it's supposed to be a really quick
deal. We're supposed to get a higher

turnaround.

Other investors are getting similar
calls.

A big deal is in the works.

And Firestone says he just needs a
little more capital to grease the

The last time it was like, this will be,
you know, at least 15%, maybe more.

The house of cards fell down.

On April 5, 2003, Elaine Nelson comes
home to find Firestone frantically

his bags.

He said, I've got to get out of here.

I remember him holding his chest, being
very nervous. It was pretty much chaos.

And then he was gone. It was a total
shock.

The word travels quickly among tool
search investors.

Firestone is gone, and so is their
money.

You feel like you've been hit in the
stomach, I'd say.

I mean, there was an actual physical
feeling.

Yeah, we were all just sick to our
stomach that we had lost that money. We

kind of knew that we'd probably never
see it again.

If the deal seems too good to be true,
it's too good to be legal.

Jay Brown is a detective who hunts con
men and fraudsters.

On April 8th, Brown gets a phone call
from a tool search investor near and

to his own nest egg, his stockbroker.

He knew he'd been scammed, and he said
that Mr. Firestone had cleaned out all

his personal effects and loaded them
into a BMW and was gone.

In Reno, the heat's on Jonathan
Firestone, the mastermind behind a

calls Tool Search.

Firestone's dividends are overdue, and
investors are antsy.

Under pressure, the mastermind packs his
bags and skips town.

He was gone. Loaded everything into a
BMW and headed south.

Detective Jay Brown begins the hunt for
Firestone with a search warrant for the

con man's home and his computer hard
drive.

Everything that was generated, all the
paperwork that he generated was in that

computer. He had spreadsheets with
victims and how much they paid and when

next check was due.

And everything was fraudulent. Every
piece of paper that was generated over

five -year period was all generated in
his loft by him to perpetuate his crime.

The tool search documents tell the story
of a classic Ponzi scheme.

There is no business, no products, no
sales.

Nothing but money shifting from one
investor to the next.

His whole life was a lie.

FBI Special Agent Marcus Knutson joins
the hunt for Firestone.

Well, Jay and I were kind of behind the
eight ball for a little bit because we

didn't get involved with this until
after he fled.

This is a typical picture of him right
here. Look at that big bass. Those are

great. As investigators search for
Jonathan Ross Firestone, they come to

discover they are chasing a shadow.

Big fish.

Big fish.

The investigation reveals that there's
no such person.

Police are unaware that Firestone is
actually Barry Richard Hunt, a man who

New Hampshire under similar
circumstances in 1989.

At that point, we're dealing with, okay,
we got this guy named Jonathan

Firestone, but we don't know who he is.
We have photos of him, but we have no

clue who this guy is, and that obviously
made our hunt for him even more

difficult.

He decided to plaster Firestone's face
on the FBI's most wanted website.

We were hoping that someone would see
that photo and either recognize him from

the past or recognize him that he's now
living next door to me.

You know, we had no idea who this guy
was, and we were hoping that somehow

be able to figure out who he was.

But the master con man in the wind, his
victims are left to cope with the

fallout of his crime.

Even though it's a white -collar crime,
you know, it just tears people up.

Suzette invested $36 ,000 in tool
search.

It really rips a lot of things out of
people's lives, even though it's money.

But, you know, that's a lot of people's
stability.

You know, my retirement is what I'm able
to make of it, plus the security.

Patricia Patton lost $15 ,000.

Being self -employed, you've got to keep
money, you know, back up in case you

get sick.

And, you know, it took a major...

I took a major, you know, cushion out of
my life.

The whole thing beat me up pretty badly.

Perhaps no one lost more than Elaine
Nelson.

The con man's girlfriend invested $15
,000 and her heart.

You don't trust anybody anymore, and I
was scared that I would never be able to

find anybody that loved me again, and it
was a lonely existence for a little

while there, yeah.

For a year and a half, Firestone's
location remains a mystery.

Then, in the fall of 2004, the FBI gets
the phone call they were hoping for.

We get contacted by a woman on the East
Coast who said that she had queried

Google for a friend that she had met
during the summer who was renting a home

near her.

The woman lives in a small town on the
Jersey Shore.

She tells the agents about a man she
knows who seems to be hiding from

Yeah, she thought something was weird
about him. He would park with his car

backed in. He would do weird stuff,
stuff that normal human beings would not

So she had this, you know, this little
tingling on the back of her neck that

this guy may not be as legitimate as he
claims to be. But the fugitive is

growing careless, referring to himself
as Ross Firestone one day, then Jonathan

the next. So she Googles Jonathan Ross
Firestone. Boom. The FBI.

Web page shows up. And up popped his
wanted poster.

And she positively identified him as the
individual she had contacted.

The woman tells police that Firestone
has moved on. But she does give them a

number of valuable leads, including the
con man's cell phone number.

Those ten digits are all the FBI needs
to zero in on the master scammer. Yeah,

we're learning that he is somewhere near
Jacksonville, Florida, in a small town

called Ocala.

Two days later, an FBI arrest team moves
on Firestone at a gym. They find him on

a leg machine.

The man who has spent 15 years on the
run is working on his quadriceps.

He was grateful. From what I got, the
feedback I got back, he was grateful

he'd finally got caught.

Because one of the first things he said
to these FBI agents was, now I can call

my mom.

You know, it's kind of sweet, you know.

Firestone goes quietly into custody, but
he does toss out one final bombshell.

That his real name was Barry Richard
Hunt and that he was wanted by the FBI

New Hampshire.

The fugitive is extradited back to Reno,
Nevada to face trial.

On July 8, 2005, Barry Hunt pleaded
guilty to one count of mail fraud and

count of bank fraud. He's sentenced to
six years in prison.

As part of the plea deal, Hunt agrees to
pay $2 .9 million in restitution to his

victims. If we ever see anything, we'll
be shocked.

Barry Hunt claims he's broke, and police
believe him.

They think he blew it all.

And at the federal prison near El Paso,
where he does his time, Hunt makes a

whopping 69 cents an hour.

You know, unless he got out and somebody
was following him and he has money

stashed offshore somewhere, there's no
chance.

Unless maybe he hit the lottery.

Hunt's capture also closes the books on
the scam he pulled in Exeter, New

Hampshire, where it all started.

Perhaps surprisingly, most of Hunt's
victims here were unaware of his arrest

conviction until American Greed came
calling.

Well, I was fairly excited to know that
I knew where he was now.

You know, you always want some closure
to the deal.

And knowing that I can go out to Texas
and see him is pretty good closure.

He certainly had a knack.

My charity doesn't go as far as labeling
him as a genius, though he may be.

But everyone knows what human nature is.

It's no secret. It's a matter of whether
you take advantage of it.

A word he used a lot was greed.

He blamed it all on greed.

And I never was sure whether he was
referring to my greed, the greed of the

investors, or his own greed, whether he
was saying something in code.

But greed was what he felt underlay this
whole mess that had developed.

Not that he was right.

And up next, it's an art heist like
you've never seen before.

They were obviously professionals.

Thieves make off with two paintings
worth $4 million.

It's such a stab to anyone who loves
art.

When we return, American Greed goes into
the gallery and inside the crime.

It's a daring heist, pulled off by
trained professionals, like a scene that

made for the movie.

But this time, it's for real.

It was probably the worst experience of
our lives.

In July of 2002, burglars break into a
gallery in West Hollywood, California,

and make a clean getaway with two
paintings by famed American artist

Parrish, valued at $4 million.

It's like, you know, a 007 movie.

You know, cutting the roof and breaching
the security system, shorting out

wires, how they removed the paintings,
how they got out, and how they went

undetected by doing all this.

The West Hollywood heist has made its
way onto the FBI's top ten list of art

crimes. But it all started 1 ,500 miles
away with an art collector in Houston,

Texas.

All these paintings down this wall are
Texas artists.

J .P. Bryan is a Texas oil man with a
penchant for fine art. And there's a man

right there that won the Battle of San
Jacinto, Sam Houston, the Sword of San

Jacinto, as they like to call it.

Over the past 25 years, Bryan has
amassed a collection of more than 10

pieces, mostly art and artifacts from
the Old West.

I love Western art. I love the action
that's implied in it. I love the subject

matter. And to me, the most fascinating
part of the settlement of these United

States is the Western part of it.

That's Andy Warhol, Custer, Annie
Oakley, and Geronimo there.

Today, his office appears to be as much
an art museum as it is the corporate

headquarters of a thriving energy
company.

My favorite one was this one right
behind my desk.

The Longhorn, and there he is taking the
long look, which is what the West is

all about.

It's about the long view.

Art is obviously a central focus of the
collection, but there's also an

interesting assemblage of spurs,
saddles, bridles. And what we tried to

just not get a gun or a saddle or a
bridle, but get something with an

interesting provenance.

In May of 1999,

J .P. Bryan came across a set of
paintings by Maxfield Parrish, a premier

American artist.

A friend of mine one day called me and
he said, I've got some Maxfield

that could be for sale. Would you be
interested in buying them? I said, no,

really, because I don't collect Parrish.
It's just outside my collecting venue.

Although not a collector of Parrish,
Bryan saw an opportunity to buy the

paintings and turn a quick profit.

You know, Maxfield Parish, along with
Norman Rockwell, the two greatest

illustrators. And I saw the paintings. I
thought they were magnificent.

Maxfield Parish has an impressive
following in the U .S. and is one of the

reproduced artists of all time.

During the 20s, one out of every five
American homes had a Parish print.

Perhaps no one knows this better than
Alma Gilbert Smith, the leading broker

the sale of original Parish paintings.

Look at that sense of light.

It's called The Land of Make -Believe.

The author of 12 books on Parrish,
Gilbert lives in the Parrish home and

a museum dedicated to his work.

I can still almost feel his energy in
the paintings.

And that's why, you know, at the age of
70, I'm still, you know, maintaining,

you know, a museum and doing the tours
and things when I have no business doing

that at the age of 70. But, you know.

I'm there because I love it. I'm there
because I get a high every time I see

somebody who's seen a parish painting
for the first time and say, oh, my God.

The parish art that was up for sale was
part of a set of seven oil paintings

commissioned by Gertrude Vanderbilt
Whitney in the early 1900s. She wanted

something in a mural form that would be
very, very special for her home. And she

wanted to show young people all dressed
up having a wonderful time, like a

party.

This is the north wall panel.

The north wall of the reception room
held one panel measuring 18 feet.

And the three surrounding walls each
held two paintings that measured 8 1⁄2

1⁄2 feet.

Together, they depict a continuous scene
of a party.

And they would be connected. So, you
know, it was surround sound with Whitney

murals. This is the longest single work
that Parrish ever did.

In June of 1999, the North Wall panel
goes on display in Alma Gilbert's

And J .P. Bryan purchases the six
remaining murals.

I love the historical connection because
they were done for Ms. Vanderbilt

Whitney. who was at the time arguably
the greatest collector of American

paintings of anybody during that period.

Bryan consigns the six paintings to
Edenhurst, a fine art gallery in

California, where interest in Maxfield
Parish runs high.

There's a number of people in the
entertainment community that are

with Maxfield Parish works, and so
obviously many of those people,

are in California.

I think art is the ultimate collectible.
It's certainly the most valuable

collectible. Tom Gianetto is the co
-owner of Edenhurst Gallery, the man who

spent three decades studying and dealing
in fine art.

Maxwell Parrish is a very important
American painter.

To have these very large canvases was a
privilege and an honor, and wonderful to

have them around. We had people coming
in from all over the world.

For 12 months, the paintings hang here.

at Edenhurst's West Hollywood location,
where they are shown daily to potential

buyers.

The asking price was $15 million for the
six paintings.

There seemed to be a lot of interest.

As a matter of fact, we had, I think,
Edenhurst would know better, but my

recollection is they had several offers.

I almost felt I was like an emcee for
that year that they were there. I mean,

entertained a lot of people.

And while some come perhaps to buy, many
more come just to look.

We had all kinds of people. We had
students, we had art collectors, we had

curious dabblers.

Most people had never even seen a parish
in person, certainly had never seen

such large parishes. So we had every
kind of person.

What Gianetto doesn't realize is that
some of those faces in the crowd could

quietly casing his gallery, waiting for
the perfect moment to make off with the

prized paintings.

We felt protected in every way because
we had everything in place as far as

security goes. As much as you think you
are protected, you really aren't because

if someone wants something, they can go
to extreme measures to get what they

want. In this case, someone really
wanted those works of art.

July 29, 2002.

Just another Monday morning in L .A.

But for gallery owner Tom Gianetto,
today will be the worst day of his life.

I first got the news via cell phone call
on my way to the gallery.

The parishes are gone. The two parishes
are missing.

The two parishes are paintings by the
famed American artist Maxfield Parrish,

valued at $4 million.

I arrived to see that they had actually
been cut from their stretcher bars.

It's just an emotional meltdown.

Your mind races, and you think of all
the thefts of all the great works of

and you realize that here it is
happening to you.

I was working out of West Hollywood
Station, primarily crimes against

Scott Petz is a detective with the Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

And so we were sent over there right
away because we heard it was a high

loss. And there's the gallery with the
two missing pieces right there.

Two massive frames hang on the wall,
empty. The treasured artwork carefully

sliced out.

You can see there was little portions in
the corner of the painting that was

left behind. So that's some of the paint
that just had flaked off during the

cut.

Detective Petz looks for clues, but
finds the gallery relatively

wasn't damaged. There wasn't things
thrown about or strewn about.

But we did notice right away that there
was a ladder in the kitchen area.

From the kitchen, Petz discovers the
spot where the thieves came and went.

This is the drop ceiling. You can see if
you look up through there, there's the

hole in the roof that's actually cut
out.

They gained access by cutting out a four
-by -four section of the roof. The weak

point in virtually any commercial
structure right there, it's plywood

covered with a composite material and
some tar.

And it's generally not covered by alarms
or by extra security, so it's a common

place for them to enter.

So what they did is they cut through the
roof, got down to the drop ceiling.

Inside the drop ceiling, the thieves had
access to the alarm system and the

skill to defuse it.

They went in into the electrical panel
up in the subroof. They stripped the

wires, and they shorted out that keypad.

The intruders intentionally tripped the
alarm, then sat back to watch as police

responded eight separate times. With
each call, police and security found no

signs of a break -in. They soon began to
suspect that the alarm system itself

was faulty. So the alarm was set off
late Saturday evening. The following day

4 o 'clock, the pings are still in
place.

By Sunday morning, everyone had
concluded that the alarm was broken.

and simply stop responding.

People's reaction tends to wane because
they feel that it's a false alarm. And

that's what the owners believed.

That's what the deputies began to
believe. And I'm sure the security

themselves started to believe that,
yeah, we have a bad security alarm.

And with that, the thieves went to work,
slipping through the hole in the roof

and into the dark gallery.

They sliced the canvases from their
frames, rolled them up, and made a clean

getaway. with $4 million of art in tow.
They were obviously professional.

Professionals who went in specifically
to take two of the Maxfield Parish

canvases. Although they had other very
valuable pieces there, there was nothing

else. In fact, there were very valuable
pieces sitting very nearby on the floor

because they were ready to be hung.
There were paintings worth millions of

dollars as well in the near vicinity.

Which told you that these items were
targeted.

And why those two when they were six, we
don't know.

Detective Petz works the case for four
months, but finds very little in the way

of leads.

We didn't have any eyewitnesses.

and no physical evidence other than a
one -foot impression print that we had.

That was only partial and wasn't able to
yield a size or a particular type of

shoe. So, no, we never got any traction
on it at all. We never had any suspect

or even a person of interest.

Well, it's like a death of a friend.

The news hits hard for J .P. Bryan, the
owner of the stolen paintings.

They sort of walk away from you
gradually in your memory.

It's the same thing with art.

You feel very angered and unhappy about
it initially, but then over time you

finally adjust to the circumstances.

So when it's finished, this will be
mapping Texas and the West.

J .P. Bryan doesn't expect to see the
paintings returned in his lifetime.

No. I think whoever got them was very
specific in

their desires to own those.

particular panels, and until they die, I
don't think they'll ever emerge again.

Unfortunately, Brian is not alone.

Art theft is a growing trend worldwide.

It's big business, accounting for nearly
$6 billion in losses each year.

It's definitely a rising crime problem
in the world, and it's really a global

problem. Chris Calarco is one of 12 in
the FBI's art crime team.

Special agents who investigate and
recover stolen art, artifacts, and

antiquities. I kind of approach my art
cases like I would approach any other

major theft type of case. It's like, you
know, you look at, you know, who are

the thieves who could pull this
particular thing off? You know, who are

known thieves that you know about? You
know, we have informants that are out

giving us information all the time about
people who are doing particular crimes.

And these are a couple pieces.

of the art that we recovered.

Since its inception in 2004, the team
has recovered 850 items worth more than

$65 million, including a Rembrandt self
-portrait worth $36 million and Norman

Rockwell's Russian schoolroom valued at
$700 ,000.

These are photographs of the stolen
murals.

In March 2005, Calarco picks up the case
of the stolen Maxfield Parish paintings

and turns to the media for help.

With a case like this, we try to get the
story out in the media again, try to

breathe some new life into it.

And this case was, or this particular
art theft was put on the FBI's top ten

crimes. When the FBI releases a list of
the top ten art crimes in the world, the

Maxfield Parish canvases are number
eight.

The list generates numerous tips, but
nothing that takes Calarco to the

paintings. For now, the case remains
open and active.

that somewhere out there somebody is
going to see the art or hear about it in

the news and say, you know what, I saw
that piece. So -and -so has that piece

their house or they heard someone
talking about it at a cocktail party.

I'm going to call the FBI.

And hopefully that will be the type of
tip that breaks the case open for me.

If you have any information about the
Maxfield Parish murals, please contact

FBI at 310 -477 -6565.

Or leave a tip at AmericanGreed .CNBC
.com.

In an upcoming episode of American
Greed.

Nobody had heard from him nor seen him.
So I decided to call the police.

A patient ends up dead.

I found him dead in his kitchen laying
on the floor with Dr. Barnes'

prescription in his hand.

Was it the illness or was it the doctor?

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