Jeffrey Gundlach’s art collection is recovered in Pasadena, Glendale
Star bond trader Jeffrey Gundlach is getting his art back.
Police recovered the nearly $10-million collection of contemporary art — which included works by Piet Mondrian, Jasper Johns and Richard Diebenkorn — that was stolen this month from Gundlach’s Santa Monica home. He had offered a near-record $1.7-million reward for the collection’s safe return.
“The focus was on recovering the artwork, and it was all recovered,” Gundlach told The Times. “The thieves had worked on moving the property, but we were able to get a good lead and apprehend them. It’s a great day for the art world.”
Santa Monica police arrested two suspects in the crime, and Gundlach said that at least one of the pieces was in the midst of being sold.
The big break in the case came Wednesday when Pasadena police officers received a tip that the stolen art was held at an automobile stereo shop, Santa Monica police said in a news release. Officers raided the Al & Ed’s Autosound store on South Rosemead Boulevard, recovered all but one of the stolen paintings and arrested the store’s manager — Jay Jeffrey Nieto, 45, of Canyon Country — on suspicion of possessing stolen property.
A second suspect, Wilmer Cadiz, 40, was arrested at his home in Rosemead, also on suspicion of possessing stolen property.
The final painting was recovered at a residence in Glendale. The person who was in possession of that painting has not been arrested and is cooperating with investigators, police said.
The burglary of Gundlach’s home shook Southern California’s art world, which includes many private collections held by movie moguls and celebrities. It was also the talk of Wall Street, where Gundlach is considered one of the world’s preeminent fund managers.
-- Joe Bel Bruno and Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times