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- We get this name,
Boris Kostov.
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00:00:06,484 --> 00:00:09,052
He was the John Gotti
of Stockholm.
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Boris allegedly had high value
stolen art pieces
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00:00:13,578 --> 00:00:15,058
that he was
trying to unload.
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- A $35 million, 300 years old
Rembrandt,
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stolen from their
national museum.
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I'm going to play the role
of an authenticator
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buying this painting
for the Russian mob.
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- Boris was a ruthless
bargainer, you know,
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from all his years
of doing dope deals.
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- It's all about the Benjamins,
you know.
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The money is all they
were caring about.
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Something went wrong.
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Did I blow this case?
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In the FBI.
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We make a lot of headlines.
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Drug busts, mob stings.
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Terrorist takedowns.
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We understand why people want
to tell stories about us.
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- Mark it.
- Freeze!
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- FBI!
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- FBI!
- Action!
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But they don't
know the half of it.
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What really goes down?
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We save that for each other
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When we're talking
agent to agent.
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This is FBI. True.
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So it's great
having you guys here today.
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I appreciate you coming in.
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Cindy Coppola
is a 23-year veteran
of the FBI.
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She worked on cases
that included organized crime
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and terrorism, and took part
in multinational investigations
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into drug trafficking and money
laundering.
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- How did you two meet?
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- Primarily we met on this
Swedish museum case
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when Bob was a renowned art UC,
and we had a case
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that dealt
with stolen art.
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00:02:13,698 --> 00:02:16,962
Special Agent Sean
Sterle joined the FBI in 1998.
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Based in the la field office,
he specialized in gangs and
violent crimes.
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- What had happened in 2000,
it was a heist,
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and three guys went into
the Swedish National Museum.
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A renowned
undercover agent, Bob Wittman
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helped recover over $300 millin
worth of art and artifacts
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during two decades with the FB.
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- They went in and they put
everybody on the floor.
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And they had guns, which
is unusual, of course,
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for European criminals.
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And for the next few minutes,
two of them ran around
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the museum and stole
three paintings.
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They had used these Spanish
riders which were basically
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tack strips to stop any police
from responding.
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They had set off two cars
on fire
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on the main roads leading
to the end of the peninsula
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where they would have
to get to in order to respond
to the theft.
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Got away in a high-speed boat.
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The whole thing happened
in less than two minutes.
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So they went and stole all
three paintings
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in less than
two and a half minutes or so.
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Two by Renoir.
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One was called The Conversation.
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Another one was called
the Young Parisian.
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And the third one, which is
a Rembrandt, was a self-portrait
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from 1630, when Rembrandt
was 24 years old.
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Renoirs were about
$3.5 million a piece.
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The Rembrandt was
about 35 million.
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The total value of that heist
was $42 million.
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- Works of art by Rembrandt
and Renoir have been stolen
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by armed robbers in Sweden.
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00:04:02,764 --> 00:04:05,332
- Did the Swedish authorities
ever catch anybody?
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00:04:05,375 --> 00:04:08,073
- Yeah, they got one of
the Renoir's back within a year.
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00:04:10,946 --> 00:04:15,037
At the time, they arrested ten
people and put them all on
trial.
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Seven of them were convicted
and received
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fairly long prison
sentences.
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00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:25,482
But the Young Parisian and
the Rembrandt are still missing.
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- It was about August 2004,
we had a task force officer
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who had an informant
who said,
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there's a Eastern
European guy named Boris.
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Here's his phone number and
he's been selling
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kilos of coke, kilos of heroin
and boats of ecstasy,
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00:04:47,504 --> 00:04:50,768
and allegedly had high value
stolen art pieces
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that he was trying to unload
for, around $500,000.
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- Was he known to the FBI prior?
- No.
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00:04:57,166 --> 00:04:59,473
So we go back, go to ACS,
you know,
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run up the number and
we get this name,
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Boris Kostov...
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and run him in ACS.
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Boom, you know, like
the computer almost blew up.
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So, you know, it's like FBI
Tampa, FBI Chicago,
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FBI Seattle, FBI San Francisco.
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00:05:16,490 --> 00:05:18,187
Which office didn't
have a case on him?
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00:05:18,230 --> 00:05:21,712
Primarily heroin, but all kinds
of stuff besides that.
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Any kind of stolen jewelry,
watches and also artwork.
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- So you know he's a known
individual.
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- Right.
- What were the first steps
then?
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- We set up doing a lot
of surveillance on his street.
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He lived on Winona Boulevard
between Hollywood Boulevard
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and Sunset Boulevard
in East Hollywood.
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There was lots of traffic
in and out of his house.
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So it looked like it's just
a lot of drug activity there.
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So we're getting to that point
where it's like: "gosh",
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you know, we need to dirty up
his line
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to get up on the phone, right?
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As luck would have it,
one of his drug runners
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got caught up
and was going to get deported.
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00:05:58,793 --> 00:06:02,057
This guy that we've got,
he doesn't want to get deported.
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00:06:02,100 --> 00:06:05,190
He's willing to work
with law enforcement.
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And we're like cha-ching,
you know, like "oh, my God",
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here's our chance to get
into him.
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So we get this guy and we're
going to have him call Boris,
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you know talk about it
on the line and set up
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a one kilo buy for $18,000.
- Like a buy and bust?
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00:06:18,465 --> 00:06:20,249
- No, we weren't going to do
a buy and bust
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because we wanted
to go up on the phone.
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So it's a buy-walk, right?
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So we're going to buy
the dope, let it walk.
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Finally we're able to get
the buy you know,
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test it out,
almost 100% purity.
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And then his telephone, both
his home and his cell were
dirtied up.
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And we were able to go
up on wiretaps on both.
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- When you go up on the wire.
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Were you guys looking for any
other drug deals
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that he might be doing, or
what else were you looking for?
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- Well, I mean, there was
the rumor
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that there was that art,
you know, the stolen art.
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00:06:52,368 --> 00:06:55,980
So then on, on the wire, within
the first couple of days
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he starts talking about
something that he had from
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Sweden that he wanted to get out
of his house.
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00:07:01,159 --> 00:07:05,250
So we're thinking, okay, now
Boris is talking about this art.
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00:07:07,383 --> 00:07:09,690
He says on the line: "Hey, I'm
going to move this thing out
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to Palm Springs tomorrow."
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And so, everybody's ears
perked up.
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Early that morning,
you know, we're out.
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Surveillance.
134
00:07:21,353 --> 00:07:23,181
You know, we got about, eight,
nine people.
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00:07:23,225 --> 00:07:25,488
Gary Bennett, my partner,
Homeland Security,
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and the Los Angeles
Sheriff's Department.
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Boris comes out early, looks up
and down the street,
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typical drug dealer,
looking for surveillance.
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Then comes out with a package
about this, you know, yay big,
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maybe a little bit bigger
than a phone book or whatnot,
and takes off.
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00:07:41,591 --> 00:07:43,332
We're figuring he's going
to Palm Springs, right?
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But he's not, he's driving
through Mid City LA.
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And then he goes and parks
at a house, package in hands.
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Starts walking up the driveway.
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And so I went running up
the sidewalk
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and everybody else
is coming behind me.
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As he's knocking on the door
and I grabbed him by the back
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and I'm like: "Come on Boris"
you know, I turn him around,
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take the package away from him.
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They open up the package and
there is a cable box.
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00:08:08,749 --> 00:08:10,620
And of course, Boris being
Boris, he's like:
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"wow, you really take stealing
cable seriously, look at all
you guys."
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My partner Gary gets his
Leatherman out
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he's taken apart the thing
hoping that maybe it's rolled up
inside this cable box.
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Nothing.
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Boris is snickering laughing,
you know,
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like "You've got
nothing. You have nothing.
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Just let me go"
- So at this point,
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how do you then convince
him to talk to you?
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00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,124
- Therein lies the one kilo buy
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00:08:36,167 --> 00:08:37,691
walk that we had
in our back pocket.
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So later that day we took him
back to the FBI office,
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get him in an
interview room, right?
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And he's still smug.
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And then we started breaking
out the recordings
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of his drug deal where
he sold our informant
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the kilo and it was
like you could see
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the blood just drop out.
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I mean, he just went, like pale
white and started pouring sweat.
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00:08:57,711 --> 00:09:02,759
And with his criminal history
he's looking at a minimum
of 17 years.
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00:09:02,803 --> 00:09:04,239
And he's like, okay, he goes:
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00:09:04,282 --> 00:09:05,849
"I'll give you all kinds of dope
dealers" and whatever.
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And I go okay: "let me see
if the AUSA thinks that's
enough."
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00:09:09,897 --> 00:09:13,596
So I go back and talk to our
AUSA and then she'd be like:
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00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:15,685
"No, just, it's the painting
or nothing.
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Or he can just... or he's going
to do the time."
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00:09:17,687 --> 00:09:20,821
And I come back: "Boris, they
want something else.
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You know what it is."
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And he's like "what, what?"
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Three hours later, he's like:
"You want the painting, don't
you?"
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And we're like: "cha-ching.
Yeah, we want the painting."
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So he's like: "All right, come
on, I'll take you."
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At that point we cuff him back
up, put him back in the car,
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00:09:36,053 --> 00:09:41,189
and he guides us to a rare coin
shop in Studio City, California.
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And Boris goes with the owner
in the safe, and he says:
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"Hey, I need my package
that I've been storing there."
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- So, he doesn't go in and says:
"give him my Renoir?"
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00:09:48,805 --> 00:09:50,415
No, no!
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00:09:50,459 --> 00:09:53,114
I need that Renoir now, yeah.
190
00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:56,290
It was wrapped up in, I don't
know, six seven layers
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00:09:56,334 --> 00:09:58,467
of blankets and there it was and
all of a sudden,
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00:09:58,510 --> 00:10:00,295
we were just like: "wow."
193
00:10:00,338 --> 00:10:06,518
You know, it was
kind of just like a thought
194
00:10:06,562 --> 00:10:08,564
that there might
be this stolen art.
195
00:10:08,608 --> 00:10:11,567
We had no idea that it was
that we'd ever get it.
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00:10:11,611 --> 00:10:13,264
But for you, being on
a drug squad--
- Yeah.
197
00:10:13,308 --> 00:10:15,397
- And working in drug cases this
had to be, like, shocking--
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00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:17,312
- It was crazy.
- Like, what do I do with this?
199
00:10:17,355 --> 00:10:18,879
- Yeah, right.
- Right.
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00:10:18,922 --> 00:10:20,576
- I've booked lots of dope
evidence and things like that,
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00:10:20,620 --> 00:10:23,318
but it's like, how do I book
something that's worth
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00:10:23,361 --> 00:10:25,276
3,5 million dollars?
203
00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:29,672
It's like... When Boris decided
he was going to come over
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00:10:29,716 --> 00:10:32,762
and start cooperating, he goes:
"I can get you the Rembrandt,
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00:10:32,806 --> 00:10:33,981
but you have to take
me to Europe.
206
00:10:34,024 --> 00:10:35,504
We're going to have to do it
in Europe."
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00:10:35,547 --> 00:10:36,940
- Who did he say it was with?
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00:10:36,984 --> 00:10:38,594
- He said: "it's never left
Sweden.
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00:10:38,638 --> 00:10:42,163
And one of my sons would
be able to get it."
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00:10:42,206 --> 00:10:46,123
- Wow. So at this point, he's
basically getting his son
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00:10:46,167 --> 00:10:48,952
involved in this criminal--
- That was the big shocker
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00:10:48,996 --> 00:10:52,086
when he said, you know: "yeah,
my son Sasha Lindgren can get it
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00:10:52,129 --> 00:10:55,959
from two brothers Dieya and
Baha Kadhum",
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00:10:56,003 --> 00:10:59,397
who were part of the Swedish
National Museum heist.
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00:10:59,789 --> 00:11:02,662
And Sasha doesn't know
that it's an FBI set-up.
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00:11:02,705 --> 00:11:06,317
- So, Bob is told you're going
to do this undercover op--
217
00:11:06,361 --> 00:11:07,579
- Well, I'm asked.
218
00:11:07,623 --> 00:11:09,146
You're asked!
219
00:11:09,190 --> 00:11:11,061
- And I met with
Sean and Gary,
220
00:11:11,105 --> 00:11:12,584
and they introduced me
to Boris,
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00:11:12,628 --> 00:11:14,891
and I guess we kind
of hit it off,
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00:11:14,935 --> 00:11:16,371
Boris and I did.
223
00:11:16,414 --> 00:11:18,590
And I was probably in my early
50, something like that.
224
00:11:18,634 --> 00:11:20,505
And Boris was a little bit
older,
225
00:11:20,549 --> 00:11:22,203
so he kind of trusted me
a little bit.
226
00:11:22,246 --> 00:11:23,421
I think, don't ya think?
227
00:11:23,465 --> 00:11:24,684
- Yeah, for sure.
- I mean, he figured,
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00:11:24,727 --> 00:11:26,381
"okay, this guy will work."
229
00:11:26,424 --> 00:11:28,557
- Right.
- So, Bob, then, what was your
cover story for this?
230
00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,168
- Yeah, so working with Boris,
you know, he's Bulgarian.
231
00:11:31,212 --> 00:11:34,345
My cover story was I was
working as an authenticator
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00:11:34,389 --> 00:11:38,132
for the Russian mob to do
the deal to make sure
233
00:11:38,175 --> 00:11:40,874
the payment occurred, and
that the painting was real.
234
00:11:40,917 --> 00:11:44,399
And that was, you know, my
story with the Kadhum brothers.
235
00:11:48,577 --> 00:11:52,450
- So when you all did some
negotiations over the phone
236
00:11:52,494 --> 00:11:55,671
trying to determine what
the cost is going to be.
237
00:11:55,715 --> 00:11:57,499
How does that come about?
238
00:11:57,542 --> 00:12:01,633
Boris starts saying: "Hey, I've
got a buyer for the Rembrandt",
right?
239
00:12:01,677 --> 00:12:03,897
And of course, we're trying
to get them to the US.
240
00:12:03,940 --> 00:12:07,596
It would be much easier, right,
to bring the painting to the US.
241
00:12:07,639 --> 00:12:09,380
And they're like:
"No, no, no, no, no.
242
00:12:09,424 --> 00:12:11,078
You guys come over to Europe."
243
00:12:38,975 --> 00:12:41,151
- If I was going to go buy
a car, I'd bring Boris with me
244
00:12:41,195 --> 00:12:42,631
because that guy could
haggle, man.
245
00:12:42,674 --> 00:12:45,415
I mean, he was brutal, he was
a ruthless bargainer,
246
00:12:45,460 --> 00:12:48,376
you know, from all his years
of doing dope deals, I think.
247
00:12:48,419 --> 00:12:52,206
So, because they wanted, like,
over, $1,000,000 upfront.
248
00:12:52,249 --> 00:12:56,210
Next thing you know it's
$250,000 upfront and
249
00:12:56,253 --> 00:12:59,256
"we'll give you the painting and
then pay us $300,000 once
250
00:12:59,300 --> 00:13:01,781
you get back to the US with
the Rembrandt."
251
00:13:01,824 --> 00:13:03,565
- So at that point we had
a plan.
252
00:13:03,608 --> 00:13:07,569
- And then when you get
the approval, you go over
to Sweden.
253
00:13:07,612 --> 00:13:09,919
- Well, first, we go to Sweden,
and we have a meeting
254
00:13:09,963 --> 00:13:15,142
with the prosecutors, national
police, and local Stockholm city
police.
255
00:13:15,185 --> 00:13:18,101
And they tell us, well:
"you can't bring Boris because
256
00:13:18,145 --> 00:13:20,277
he's got an arrest warrant
in Sweden".
257
00:13:20,321 --> 00:13:23,454
- Right before going to the US
he had come from Sweden.
258
00:13:23,498 --> 00:13:25,239
He was their John Gotti..
259
00:13:25,282 --> 00:13:26,936
- Of Sweden..
- Yeah, of Sweden.
260
00:13:26,980 --> 00:13:29,156
- That made it difficult.
- It sure did.
261
00:13:29,199 --> 00:13:30,853
There's no such thing
as cooperating
262
00:13:30,897 --> 00:13:32,507
to work down your sentence.
263
00:13:32,550 --> 00:13:36,163
It was the minute you landed on
Swedish soil, you were arrested.
264
00:13:36,206 --> 00:13:39,688
So we decided on Denmark,
which, you know, our legat
265
00:13:39,731 --> 00:13:43,213
had a great relationship with
their law enforcement people,
which is huge, right?
266
00:13:46,651 --> 00:13:48,044
- So, Bob, tell me about that.
267
00:13:48,088 --> 00:13:53,093
You are in Copenhagen.
- Gary and Sean are managing
268
00:13:53,136 --> 00:13:57,227
Boris and they have Boris make
the call to Sasha--
269
00:13:57,271 --> 00:13:58,838
- His son.
- Yeah.
270
00:14:02,624 --> 00:14:05,627
- ...to come down to start these
negotiations.
271
00:14:05,670 --> 00:14:07,890
- So where's Boris's son,
to your knowledge?.
272
00:14:07,934 --> 00:14:10,588
- Boris's son was in Stockholm.
- Okay.
273
00:14:10,632 --> 00:14:12,721
- And, of course, Boris was
with us in Copenhagen.
274
00:14:12,764 --> 00:14:14,941
It's about a five-hour train
ride from Stockholm
275
00:14:14,984 --> 00:14:16,551
all the way
down to Copenhagen.
276
00:14:16,594 --> 00:14:19,989
- Didn't Sasha bring someone
with him that was unexpected?
277
00:14:20,033 --> 00:14:21,382
- That was the shocker,
wasn't it?
278
00:14:21,425 --> 00:14:24,211
Sasha shows up and he's and
he's got a little baby
279
00:14:24,254 --> 00:14:25,560
with him, a little child.
280
00:14:27,431 --> 00:14:29,564
And it was his daughter.
- Yeah.
281
00:14:29,607 --> 00:14:32,393
So it's Boris's gran--
- It was Boris's granddaughter.
282
00:14:32,436 --> 00:14:34,874
It's the first time Boris is
seeing his granddaughter.
283
00:14:34,917 --> 00:14:36,179
- Wow.
- So there was a very,
284
00:14:36,223 --> 00:14:39,704
very touching moment where Boris
gives her a hug
285
00:14:39,748 --> 00:14:41,489
and says I'm
your grandfather.
286
00:14:41,532 --> 00:14:45,667
And it was really interesting
to see this family dynamic
287
00:14:45,710 --> 00:14:47,103
in this situation.
288
00:14:47,147 --> 00:14:49,105
And I'm standing here
thinking: "oh, my goodness.
289
00:14:49,149 --> 00:14:52,195
Here's the guy giving up his
son and his granddaughter
at the same time."
290
00:14:52,239 --> 00:14:55,807
But then again, his son's
a criminal, alright.
291
00:14:55,851 --> 00:14:58,027
He's bringing her with
him for cover.
292
00:14:58,071 --> 00:15:00,595
It's not just to introduce
her to her grandfather.
293
00:15:00,638 --> 00:15:03,772
It's so that it looks good
that father and daughter
294
00:15:03,815 --> 00:15:05,208
are traveling together
on a train.
295
00:15:05,252 --> 00:15:07,167
- So how did that conversation
go then?
296
00:15:07,210 --> 00:15:09,604
- Any undercover operation I did
using art,
297
00:15:10,126 --> 00:15:12,433
it was always my first
belief that it was real.
298
00:15:12,476 --> 00:15:14,261
I wasn't an agent.
I wasn't a policeman.
299
00:15:14,304 --> 00:15:16,480
I'm buying this thing and
I'm paying this much money.
300
00:15:16,524 --> 00:15:17,612
- Absolutely.
301
00:15:17,655 --> 00:15:18,961
- I was just doing
what was natural.
302
00:15:19,005 --> 00:15:20,180
- Yeah.
- We showed Sasha the money
303
00:15:20,223 --> 00:15:21,703
so he would know that we were
for real.
304
00:15:21,746 --> 00:15:25,011
We just made sure that he knew
that Boris was working
305
00:15:25,054 --> 00:15:27,970
for me with the Russian mob
306
00:15:28,014 --> 00:15:30,277
and that he wasn't in charge
of money. I was.
307
00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,801
- They're worried that they're
going to bring the painting
308
00:15:32,844 --> 00:15:35,282
and Boris is going to go stick
them up,
309
00:15:35,325 --> 00:15:36,500
give me the painting
and take off.
310
00:15:36,544 --> 00:15:38,415
No honor among thieves
at this point.
311
00:15:38,459 --> 00:15:41,418
- And so we told, basically told
them, you've seen the money.
312
00:15:41,462 --> 00:15:42,854
Now go home and get
the painting.
313
00:15:42,898 --> 00:15:44,204
You know, it's time
to do the deal.
314
00:15:44,247 --> 00:15:46,554
- Sasha calls Boris several days
later and says:
315
00:15:46,597 --> 00:15:50,688
"okay, everybody's agreed
in their little crook conclave
316
00:15:50,732 --> 00:15:52,821
there, you know, everybody's
blessed, blessed off
317
00:15:52,864 --> 00:15:56,259
on the 250,000 upfront for this,
you know, for the painting.
318
00:15:56,303 --> 00:15:58,566
And we're going
to do it tomorrow."
319
00:16:05,138 --> 00:16:06,748
- We're staying
at the Scandic Hotel
320
00:16:06,791 --> 00:16:10,317
and I had a room there we were
using as the undercover room.
321
00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:11,622
- And we had the adjoining room.
322
00:16:11,666 --> 00:16:14,103
We had a closed, closed circuit
TV, you know,
323
00:16:14,147 --> 00:16:17,150
real live feed
with Bob's room.
324
00:16:20,675 --> 00:16:22,111
And we were in the next room.
325
00:16:22,155 --> 00:16:24,287
I was in there with members
of the Danish SWAT team.
326
00:16:24,331 --> 00:16:26,463
- Yeah, we get a call and
the call is from
327
00:16:26,507 --> 00:16:28,552
the Swedish National Police,
and they said that they were
328
00:16:28,596 --> 00:16:30,685
watching the houses
of the Kadhum Brothers,
329
00:16:30,728 --> 00:16:33,253
the two brothers that were
involved, going back and forth.
330
00:16:33,296 --> 00:16:34,689
A lot of movement
the night before.
331
00:16:34,732 --> 00:16:36,778
They said that three
individuals were on their way
332
00:16:36,821 --> 00:16:38,388
back to Copenhagen on the train.
333
00:16:38,432 --> 00:16:41,739
Again, it was Sasha, Dieya
and Baha Kadhum.
334
00:16:45,569 --> 00:16:47,267
They have a package they're
carrying looks like
335
00:16:47,310 --> 00:16:49,051
the size of the painting.
336
00:17:04,196 --> 00:17:06,460
When these guys were coming
towards the hotel
337
00:17:06,502 --> 00:17:09,984
from the train station
I checked the SWAT team's
338
00:17:10,029 --> 00:17:12,031
key cards on my door.
339
00:17:12,074 --> 00:17:13,510
They didn't work.
Did you know that?
340
00:17:13,554 --> 00:17:15,643
- You know what?
I did not know that.
341
00:17:15,685 --> 00:17:17,688
That must have made you feel
really confident.
342
00:17:17,732 --> 00:17:20,300
- So I ran downstairs--
- Scrambling...
343
00:17:20,343 --> 00:17:22,214
-...to get new key cards,
and I ran back upstairs
344
00:17:22,258 --> 00:17:24,608
and gave it to the guy
in the SWAT team.
345
00:17:24,652 --> 00:17:27,046
Said we ought to fix
it at the last second, right?
346
00:17:27,089 --> 00:17:28,134
- Yeah.
347
00:17:28,176 --> 00:17:29,526
Can you imagine
if that didn't work?
348
00:17:34,401 --> 00:17:36,011
- All three of them
come to the hotel.
349
00:17:36,446 --> 00:17:39,754
At that point Boris and Baha
Kadhum come up to my room.
350
00:17:45,281 --> 00:17:47,240
They come in and they
want to see the money.
351
00:17:47,283 --> 00:17:49,633
And the first thing I'm going
to do is frisk them,
352
00:17:49,677 --> 00:17:51,331
because I wanna make sure they
don't have a weapon.
353
00:17:51,374 --> 00:17:53,768
Because what we're afraid of is
that Baha Kadhum,
354
00:17:53,811 --> 00:17:56,814
he's seen the money and
now he's going to be able to,
355
00:17:56,858 --> 00:17:57,772
you know, rob me.
356
00:18:02,603 --> 00:18:04,257
And I always tell my wife
I want to come back
357
00:18:04,300 --> 00:18:05,867
with the same amount of holes
I left with.
358
00:18:05,910 --> 00:18:07,695
That's a good idea, right, Sean?
- That's always a good idea.
359
00:18:07,738 --> 00:18:11,481
- ...in any of these jobs.
So anyway, we do that.
There's no weapons.
360
00:18:11,525 --> 00:18:13,396
That's great.
No knives or anything like that.
361
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:14,876
So we bring in the money.
362
00:18:14,919 --> 00:18:17,096
We show them all the money, we
put it out on the bed.
363
00:18:17,139 --> 00:18:18,271
$100 bills in piles.
364
00:18:23,972 --> 00:18:25,408
And he sits down on the bed.
365
00:18:25,452 --> 00:18:28,063
He's staring at every,
every pile of money.
366
00:18:34,461 --> 00:18:36,115
And he goes through it all.
367
00:18:36,158 --> 00:18:37,812
Finally, he's convinced,
he's happy.
368
00:18:39,683 --> 00:18:41,294
I said, You know, we have
to get this done.
369
00:18:41,337 --> 00:18:43,296
The Russians are
getting nervous. Let's go.
370
00:18:43,557 --> 00:18:45,602
So they said: "okay, we're going
to go get the painting."
371
00:18:49,824 --> 00:18:52,131
I knew the guy was down
on the corner, you know,
372
00:18:52,174 --> 00:18:54,176
the guy that had the package was
staying outside
373
00:18:54,655 --> 00:18:56,831
and I knew that they were out
there to go get him.
374
00:18:59,355 --> 00:19:01,270
And then I get a call
and it's Sean.
375
00:19:01,314 --> 00:19:03,838
And Sean says something
went wrong.
376
00:19:03,881 --> 00:19:04,795
- Oh no.
377
00:19:04,839 --> 00:19:05,840
- ...and they all ran away.
378
00:19:09,670 --> 00:19:11,193
He said: "do you think we should
arrest them?"
379
00:19:11,237 --> 00:19:13,543
I said: "if they get
on the train arrest them.
380
00:19:13,587 --> 00:19:16,633
But before that, see where they
go, you know, see what happens."
381
00:19:16,677 --> 00:19:19,332
I'm sitting in the room and
I'm going back and forth
382
00:19:19,375 --> 00:19:21,812
in that room, pacing, thinking,
what could I have said wrong?
383
00:19:21,856 --> 00:19:23,466
What did I do wrong?
384
00:19:23,510 --> 00:19:26,817
Did I blow this case after all
this work these guys went to?
385
00:19:26,861 --> 00:19:29,342
You know, it's just a terrible
feeling, you know?
386
00:19:31,779 --> 00:19:34,173
When they came to the room,
they didn't have the painting,
387
00:19:34,216 --> 00:19:35,652
so they have to go get it
somewhere, Right?
388
00:19:35,696 --> 00:19:37,828
- And the guy supposedly outside
has the painting, right?
389
00:19:37,872 --> 00:19:42,181
- That guy was just a decoy
to make sure that nobody
390
00:19:42,224 --> 00:19:43,878
was surveilling them or law
enforcement
391
00:19:43,921 --> 00:19:45,445
wasn't part of this thing.
Interesting.
392
00:19:48,535 --> 00:19:50,711
- Finally, they bring
a different package
393
00:19:58,153 --> 00:20:00,851
and it's wrapped up
in this velvet cloth.
394
00:20:04,507 --> 00:20:08,642
And it's tied so tight and
I had nothing to open it with.
395
00:20:17,041 --> 00:20:21,176
It took me minutes and minutes
to try to open this thing up.
396
00:20:21,220 --> 00:20:22,743
It was so tight with the knots.
397
00:20:22,786 --> 00:20:25,006
It seemed like three hours it
took you to get that thing
398
00:20:25,049 --> 00:20:27,008
undone with the...
- It took forever.
399
00:20:27,051 --> 00:20:29,010
...the velvet that it
was in, or whatever.
400
00:20:29,053 --> 00:20:34,233
It was like: "Come on, Bob,
open it." It was torture.
401
00:20:38,237 --> 00:20:40,456
- But finally, when I got it
open, you know,
402
00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:42,676
I pulled it apart and
I looked at it,
403
00:20:42,719 --> 00:20:44,025
and it was the Rembrandt.
404
00:20:48,986 --> 00:20:52,555
I mean, for a minute it was
like, you know "Eureka".
405
00:20:52,947 --> 00:20:54,122
Your feet don't touch
the ground.
406
00:20:54,165 --> 00:20:55,341
- It's stunning, right?
407
00:20:55,384 --> 00:20:57,647
- It's stunning. I mean, I felt
like that
408
00:20:57,691 --> 00:20:58,822
when I had my
children.
409
00:20:58,866 --> 00:21:02,348
A $35 million, 300 years old
Rembrandt,
410
00:21:02,391 --> 00:21:04,263
you know, done by
the master.
411
00:21:10,878 --> 00:21:13,402
So I'm looking at it thinking,
oh, my gosh, you know,
412
00:21:13,446 --> 00:21:15,186
what an amazing piece to have
in your hands.
413
00:21:21,889 --> 00:21:24,935
The SWAT team code word on this
was "this is a done deal".
414
00:21:24,979 --> 00:21:27,590
So I knew where the camera was
and the microphone.
415
00:21:27,634 --> 00:21:30,506
I go to the microphone,
silence...
416
00:21:36,033 --> 00:21:39,515
And when I said that these guys
are going to come racing into
the room,
417
00:21:39,559 --> 00:21:42,257
break the door down,
save me,
418
00:21:42,301 --> 00:21:44,259
save the painting
and save the day.
419
00:21:45,739 --> 00:21:47,784
- We had a key for that room
that he was doing it,
420
00:21:47,828 --> 00:21:50,178
and of course, it's like one
of those, key fob things--
421
00:21:50,221 --> 00:21:52,398
- Key fob...
- And of course, it's like:
"it's not working.
422
00:21:52,441 --> 00:21:54,443
It's not working."
423
00:21:54,487 --> 00:21:56,619
And then finally the door,
you know, opens,
424
00:21:56,663 --> 00:21:58,099
you know, the lock
unlocks and...
425
00:21:58,142 --> 00:22:00,710
- So at the point I ran out
of the room and they all
426
00:22:00,754 --> 00:22:03,322
came in and they grabbed these
guys, I ran out of the room
427
00:22:03,365 --> 00:22:04,192
with the painting.
428
00:22:11,025 --> 00:22:12,940
Boris gets handcuffed.
- A second time.
429
00:22:12,983 --> 00:22:13,854
- Yeah!
430
00:22:19,599 --> 00:22:21,905
This one's just for play
though, you know?
431
00:22:24,995 --> 00:22:27,955
- So for his protection we had
him arrested as well.
432
00:22:27,998 --> 00:22:30,392
Right. So get him back
to the United States
433
00:22:30,436 --> 00:22:32,263
before they knew he was
a cooperator.
434
00:22:40,097 --> 00:22:44,058
- And then within a year,
the European courts overturned
435
00:22:44,101 --> 00:22:47,017
the conviction, saying
that the use of the father,
436
00:22:47,061 --> 00:22:51,413
you know, Boris against his son
was a civil rights violation.
437
00:22:51,457 --> 00:22:53,720
- Almost like more
of a outrageous government
conduct
438
00:22:53,763 --> 00:22:58,115
to actually use a blood
relative to fool the crooks.
439
00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:01,902
- But what happened when Boris
went to court in L.A.?
440
00:23:01,945 --> 00:23:04,861
- He had gotten the largest
downward departure, meaning
441
00:23:04,905 --> 00:23:07,168
time knocked off, as you know,
time knocked off his sentence
442
00:23:07,211 --> 00:23:10,737
of anyone in history
of the Central District
of California.
443
00:23:10,780 --> 00:23:12,042
- Central District, okay.
444
00:23:12,086 --> 00:23:15,481
- So he went from 17 years
to about the week
445
00:23:15,524 --> 00:23:16,699
that he spent in jail.
- Probation?
446
00:23:16,743 --> 00:23:18,832
- Yeah.
- So, Bob, tell me why
447
00:23:18,875 --> 00:23:20,660
this type
of case is important?
448
00:23:20,703 --> 00:23:23,271
The Rembrandt is an icon
of Western civilization.
449
00:23:31,801 --> 00:23:35,544
So it's our job as a culture
to protect cultural heritage
450
00:23:35,588 --> 00:23:38,808
and protect these pieces
for the future of the world.
451
00:23:55,999 --> 00:23:58,828
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