In July of 1989, UM profiled a man from Los Angeles named Robert Leads who was wanted for art fraud. Apparently, Mr. Leads approached an art dealer in LA and enquired about purchasing two rare paintings. As collateral, Leads offered the dealer stock in his company. The stock turned out to be worthless. By the time this was discovered, Leads was gone, as were the paintings. He next turned up in Florida where he attempted to sell the stolen works to several area art dealers. This time, the scam worked in reverse. Leads collected their money, but failed to deliver the paintings. On several occasions, Leads contacted federal investigators working the case and proclaimed his innocense yet still refused to come forward. He was subsequently arrested accordiing to an update.

The segment went on to detail other works of art that were stolen from museums and private collections through the years. Among them paintings by Van Gogh and Claude Monet. In one instance, a painting (by Monet?) was stolen during a house party.

Does anyone remember this segment? Has it been on Lifetime?

Thanks! :wave: