Insurance Cheat Charged

A collector from St. Paul, Minn., filed claims for artwork and other collectibles he said were stolen in 2007 and collected $254,000. But when he later listed some pieces with an art brokerage firm, they were identified as stolen. Investigators searched the collector’s house and found other “missing” works. The man has been charged with wire fraud in federal court. You and everyone else can use the public listings of expensive stolen art and antiques. The records go back many years. The Art Loss Register (ALR) is a private database of art and collectibles. There is a charge to access it. The International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) is a nonprofit research organization anyone can join.