Here are our danshamptons.com idiots of the week.
If you want to steal art in the Hamptons, burning down a house and then trying to resell the stolen art to the dealer that appraised the insurance payout is not a good idea. Eleven paintings in all, worth more than $500,000 total, were taken from the home of Jerry Levin, former CEO of the Coleman camping equipment company who has a summer home in Quogue by Patrick Padden, his 50 year old care taker and three other men.
Art By Jean Metzinger
His caretaker, along with three other men, (Ronald Jiminez, Vincent Scheraldi, Brian Marbach) stole 30 paintings, one of the most expensive painting was a work by French cubist painter Jean Metzinger that was valued at $420,000. They then burned down the house to cover their tracks. When they tried to sell the paintings, they went to the exact same art dealer that not only originally sold the painting to Jerry Levin, but also appraised it for him after the fire so he could submit it to his insurance company. He blew the whistle, and now they are in the big house (jail of course).
What a bunch of idiots.
