The Art of the Steal: The Story of Michel van Rijn
Explicit content warning
12/17/20 • 38 min
Mariana dives into an underground world of subterfuge, heists, counterfeiting, smuggling, and organized looting with Michel van Rijn, one of the world’s most prolific artifact smugglers. In a career full of legendary antics, he once sold a truckload of ancient Russian icons and used the proceeds to buy a private jet. But along the way, Michel made dangerous enemies in the billion-dollar illicit art market. With his back against the wall, he flipped sides, using his expertise to set up sting operations with the same international authorities who hunted him for decades. The BBC now calls him "The Indiana Jones of Chelsea"... although his former handler said he wasn’t above keeping the best mosaic for himself.
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Mariana dives into an underground world of subterfuge, heists, counterfeiting, smuggling, and organized looting with Michel van Rijn, one of the world’s most prolific artifact smugglers. In a career full of legendary antics, he once sold a truckload of ancient Russian icons and used the proceeds to buy a private jet. But along the way, Michel made dangerous enemies in the billion-dollar illicit art market. With his back against the wall, he flipped sides, using his expertise to set up sting operations with the same international authorities who hunted him for decades. The BBC now calls him "The Indiana Jones of Chelsea"... although his former handler said he wasn’t above keeping the best mosaic for himself.
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