A 49-year-old accused of what is considered “Theft of the Century” will appear before the court the next day. In a statement to the media, defendant Sakis Kechagioglou’s lawyer stated that he never attempted to sell stolen paintings inside or outside the country in Greece. Asked why he did not return the paintings before, the lawyer replied “Science says there are marks on paintings. “To eliminate it, he had to put bleach.”
The author admitted the theft by giving in his testimony all the details of the theft of the century. He claimed to have acted alone but there are revelations that refute his claims. Information has shown that he has tried to sell Picasso painting twice.
Speaking to MEGA, Dutch researcher Arthur Brand said that last year this man was suspected of hiding in the Netherlands after fleeing Greece, while adding that he had an accomplice.
“He tried to sell the paintings, which was difficult, because if you have the money to buy a Picasso painting, you will buy a legal object, not an illegal one, because you can not show a painting anywhere. stolen. This man tried again and again to find a buyer and meanwhile what I heard is that he tried to sell the painting in Germany “, added Arthur Brand.
How the theft of the century happened
He is suspected of stealing two paintings by Picasso and Montrian at the National Gallery of Art in 2012. The perpetrator told police he had repented and demanded a commuted sentence. “In 2012 I entered the Gallery and saw three paintings. I do not remember everything in detail after 9 years have passed. I’m so sorry for what I did. I have always been interested in works of art “, he expressed.
He told investigators that he committed the theft after visiting the Gallery for 6 months where he took the paintings. “I made constant visits to the National Gallery and got acquainted with the works, until I believed that one of them could become mine. These thoughts tormented me for about two years and made me make the biggest mistake of my life. For about six months before the theft I made many visits… Because of my involvement in construction, I knew the building materials and could understand where there was a concrete wall and where the plaster.
I sat inside for hours observing not only the works of art but also the configuration of the space, the behavior of the guards, where there were windows, cameras. I did the same in the surrounding area. I was drinking coffee and sitting around the gallery for hours. I do not remember how many nights I sat hiding behind the trees and watched the guards. I could have done it more than 50 times in the last six months before the theft. So I managed to get a very good knowledge of security systems. I knew all the habits of the guards, when they changed shifts, who smoked and who went out in the garden. I knew they had dwindled recently due to the financial crisis, I knew there was an alarm. So I decided that what I really needed to do was learn how to do it right. “, declared the author.
He then describes what he did until he committed the theft. “I went to Monastiraki, bought black boots, rag gloves, black pants, a black blouse, a black hood that left only the eyes exposed and a black bag… From my construction tools I used a hammer, a iron chisel and a knife ” , he tells police and claims the choice of the day of the robbery was random.
“With my hands I tried to open the balcony door. On the second or third attempt I realized that the balcony doors were unsafe and would open if pulled more. As soon as the balcony door moved a little. Nxora hammer. I broke the glass creating a hole knowing I had time to do it as I knew how long it took the guard to come.
After a while I listened to it and kept walking inside… .. At first I thought I would not be able to go to the exhibitions. I took the bag, jumped on the outside wall, and went out onto King Constantine’s sidewalk. I walked a few feet down and entered the yard jumping against the wall. I sat at some tables, near a house and smoked cigarettes. I collected the cigarette butts in a bag. Twenty minutes later I returned to the same place. I opened the balcony door, which was almost unlocked, heard the signal and went inside then locked it again. I stood in the inner hallway. After a while I heard the guard. He stood there for a few seconds I heard him muttering something.
I thought he was getting angry and cursing himself because he could not find what was going on as he could not see the balcony door. I then decided that harassing the security guard was the best way to carry out the theft by making him believe there was a technical problem in the alarm zones. So I repeated the same process several times. I opened and closed the balcony door without entering. I think the last time I opened and closed the balcony door I did not hear the guard coming. I stayed in place until 4 in the morning. At that moment I opened the balcony door and went inside leaving it open.
The place was a bit dark, but there was enough light to see what I was doing. I rested my hands on the ground. I found the point of the gypsum board knot, applying pressure, the gypsum board opened and the small planks that were on it fell. I was almost certain the guard would not come… I entered the main area and pulled out my bag… The place I entered was a room that had stairs almost opposite. I walked down the stairs and started climbing them. I entered the room and started waving my arms to see if the alarm radars were working. Since I did not hear any alarm I assumed the guard had turned it off. I got up and found myself in front of Picasso painting. I hung it with the heavy frame, left it on the edge of the stairs and got another painting by Montrian… It only took 7 minutes ”.
