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Robert K. Wittman, Founder of the FBI Art Crime Team. Image copyright Donna Wittman.

Art crime seminar to focus on recovery, security, protection

Robert K. Wittman, Founder of the FBI Art Crime Team. Image copyright Donna Wittman.
Robert K. Wittman, Founder of the FBI Art Crime Team. Image copyright Donna Wittman.
PHILADELPHIA – For the first time ever Robert Wittman Inc. is offering a five-day seminar to the public that will focus on the practical application of investigative techniques to recover stolen art and cultural property. The seminar will be held June 12-17 at Philadelphia’s downtown Pyramid Club.

This seminar will focuses on real industry career opportunities in the fields of national and international investigation, art law, insurance, appraisal, museum security, conservation and art financial services. Presented by professionals, the emphasis is on practical application in careers in the industry.

The course will feature more than 20 hours of instruction spread across five days. Instructors are renowned in their fields, having won numerous national and international awards. Together they have served for more than half a century on the front lines of art security, protection and recovery.

Participants will stay at the luxurious Crowne Plaza Hotel on Market Street in downtown Philadelphia.

Lecturers will be Robert K. Wittman, Robert E. Goldman, James E. McAndrew and Herb Lottier.

Wittman was the founder and Senior Investigator of the FBI National Art Crime Team and was instrumental in the recovery of more than $300 million worth of stolen cultural property. He spent 20 years as an FBI agent, and upon retiring authored the New York Times Best Seller Priceless – How I went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures. Today, he is the president of the international art security firm Robert Wittman Inc.

Goldman spent 32 years working as a local and federal prosecutor. He prosecuted the first case in the nation under the federal Theft of Major Artwork Statute (18 USC 668) resulting in the first federal convictions under this law. Goldman was appointed by the Department of Justice as the first at large prosecutor in the nation for the FBI Art Crime Team. Today, he is the principle in the law firm of Robert E. Goldman Esq. and practices art law on a private basis.

McAndrew has worked with the U.S. government for more than 27 years, first with the United States Customs Service and then with the Department of Homeland Security. He is an expert on international art and antiquity investigations and on customs and international trade law.

Herb Lottier has been the Director of Protection Services at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the fourth largest art museum in the United States, since 1996. He manages a security force of 175 contract officers and 35 proprietary supervisors. Prior to his current profession, Lottier served for 21 years in the Philadelphia Police Department. For the last six of those years he held the rank of captain.

Seminar subjects include Civil and Criminal Art Law; Case Studies Focusing on Investigation Techniques; International Art Law and Topics; Museum Personnel and Collection Security; Conservation and Forensic Techniques to Identify Frauds, Fakes and Forgeries; Fine Art Insurance and Art Loss Database; Protection and Recovery Careers in the Insurance Industry and Private Sector; Gallery Issues; Antiquities Protection; Auction Protection Issues; and Fine Art Financial Service Careers.

Deadline for application submission, including a nonrefundable $100 application fee, is due no later than April 15. The application fee will be applied to the all-inclusive course cost with the remaining balance of $2,500 due by May 1.

Participants will receive individual attention and training. Class size is limited, and applications will be considered in the order they are submitted.

For additional information contact 610-361-8929, email info@RobertWittmanInc.com or visit their website at www.robertwittmaninc.com

 


ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE


Robert K. Wittman, Founder of the FBI Art Crime Team. Image copyright Donna Wittman.
Robert K. Wittman, Founder of the FBI Art Crime Team. Image copyright Donna Wittman.
Course brochure for Art Crime Investigation Seminar. Image courtesy of Robert Wittman Inc.
Course brochure for Art Crime Investigation Seminar. Image courtesy of Robert Wittman Inc.