Lawyer charged with selling stolen art

BOSTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A retired Massachusetts lawyer is on trial on federal charges of trying to sell paintings he allegedly knew had been stolen by a former client.

The trial began Tuesday with opening statements, the Boston Globe reported. Robert Mardirosian was "caught red-handed," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Mitchell told a jury in federal court in Boston.

The seven paintings were stolen in Stockbridge, Mass., in 1978 from Michael Bakwin. Bakwin sold the most valuable painting, a Cezanne, recently for $30 million, after recovering it.

The alleged thief, David Colvin, a client of Mardirosian, was shot and killed in 1979, leaving the paintings in storage with his lawyer. In 1999, Mardirosian, after storing the paintings in Switzerland, offered Bakwin a deal through a shell company -- get the Cezanne back in return for the other six works, which were far less valuable.

Mardirosian's lawyer described the exchange as getting a "finder's fee."

"I thought it was extortion," Bakwin said. "But if we could get the one painting back, then I would be able to get the six other paintings back."