The court heard how the UCHV porters, also known as the “cols rouges” after their red-collared uniforms, operated as a kind of secret criminal cooperative for several years stealing works during valuations of the estates of deceased collectors, en route to the Hôtel Drouot or from the storage sites where pieces were held while awaiting auction. One drove a Porsche 911 and the latest BMW cabriolet, while another reportedly bought a Paris bar with his spoils.
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The crime-ring consisted of members of a union of porters known as the cols rouges who were responsible for transporting antiques to the Hôtel Drouot.
49 people were put on trial in March this year charged with organised theft, conspiracy to commit a crime and handling stolen goods.
The court ordered the dissolution of the company that employed the auction workers and worked with Drouot.
In one instance, two Art Deco items by Eileen Gray disappeared in July 2006, only to reappear on the auction block at Drouot three months later, where they collectively fetched €1 million ($1,123,850).
The porters claimed they had no idea the objects – a pedestal table and a dressing table – could fetch such a fortune, with one saying they were to have been “hauled away by the rag-and-bone man”. This followed an anonymous tip-off that a member of the union was in possession of a missing oil painting by 19th century French artist Gustave Courbet called “Seascape with Orange Sky'”.
The same fate befell some stage costumes of the great French mime Marcel Marceau, who died in 2007 leaving a tax debt of several million euros to his daughters.
Drouot, founded in 1852, dropped the art handlers in question in 2010 and became a civil plaintiff in the trial. Some auctioneers knew about the theft and took a cut.
“La yape” which means “theft” in Savoie slang – was endemic and profits were shared among the group. Each new member was apparently brought into the fold by an existing member, and according to some testimonies, the initiation process involved stealing something and sharing the proceeds with fellow insiders.
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The porters, who handle items before auction, were found guilty of removing many of them and selling them on their own account much later.
