Art Crime Losses May Total $8 billion Per Year

Since the inception of the FBI’s Art Crime Unit in 2004, more than 2,400 objects of cultural property valued at more than $142 million have been recovered. According to the FBI, a number of art criminals have been sent to jail, and many of the recovered items have been returned or repatriated.

Even so, said Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, who manages our Art Theft Program, “We are seeing an increase in these types of crimes,” with losses in art and cultural property crimes  estimated at $8 billion per year.