As announced by Brazilian authorities last week, a raid on a Rio de Janeiro apartment resulted in the recovery of cash, jewelry, watches and works of art worth a total of 709 million Brazilian reals ($138 million) that a group of criminals had stolen from the widow of gallery owner Jean Boghici († 2015) in the last two years. And a sad twist: apparently the victim's daughter was involved in the scam.
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The accomplices pretended to be psychics and contacted the victim to inform her of her daughter's imminent death, telling her that it could only be avoided by spiritual countermeasures. The so-called psychics were paid for their "services" and, as soon as the victim became suspicious, she was held at home and threatened. Jewelry, watches and works of art have been stolen and some were put up for sale.
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During a raid on the home of two of the four suspects arrested, the Rio de Janeiro police managed to recover several stolen paintings, including Sol Poente (1929) by Tarsila do Amaral (1886-1973), one of the largest representatives of Brazilian modernism and an influential Latin American artist, valued at $50 million.
