Plundered pair of Picassos

An unlikely criminal tandem of a Fresh Meadows man and his mother-in-law were recently charged with plundering two Pablo Picasso drawings from the apartment of a Manhattan art collector after he died in March of 2006.
Nahum Kohen, 38, a moving contractor is facing charges of second degree grand larceny and second degree criminal possession of stolen property, and his mother-in-law, Ori Lellouch, 56, of Kew Gardens Hills is facing criminal possession of stolen property, which could lead to jail time of 15 years and one year respectively.
In May of 2006, after art collector William Kingsland’s death, Kohen’s moving company was contracted to move some of Kingsland’s collections from his Upper East Side apartment to a storage facility, when the two Picasso drawings, valued at nearly $60,000 went missing.
“Not only are these defendants charged with stealing from their own customers but from the dead,” said Department of Investigation (DOI) Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn. “Stealing on the job is not a fringe benefit. Most realize that it could lead to jail and a criminal record.”
The New York County Public Administration informed the Department of Investigation that the drawings were missing, and that they believed they were stolen. Authorities made a list of everyone who was in Kingsland’s apartment and Kohen’s name turned up as being there on May 5 while the drawings were still there.
After receiving a tip from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that a Manhattan-based art broker tried to sell one of the two missing drawings to different auction houses throughout the city, DOI confirmed that the broker obtained the drawing from Lellouch, when they made the connection that she was Kohen’s mother-in-law.
FBI agents learned that the broker had allegedly obtained the drawings from Lellouch, and the agents recovered both drawings.