Romania: Guilty Pleas in Art Theft, but Paintings Are Still Missing

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/world/europe/romania-guilty-pleas-in-art-theft-but-paintings-are-still-missing.html

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Three Romanians pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing seven paintings, including works by Picasso, Monet and Matisse, from a Dutch museum in a daring nighttime raid that shocked the art world. The defendants, Radu Dogaru, Alexandru Bitu and Eugen Darie, told a Bucharest court that they took the multimillion-dollar paintings from the Kunsthal Museum last year. They were charged with the theft and with bringing the paintings into Romania. The works have never been found, and might have been burned. Mr. Dogaru’s mother, Olga, who is charged with handling stolen property, had told investigators she burned the paintings, but later denied it.