The glamorous image of art heists often conjures up Bond-villain masterminds orchestrating elaborate schemes. Laure Beccuau, the lead prosecutor in the recent Louvre case involving the theft of more than $100 million worth of historic jewelry, suggested in an interview on French news channel BFMTV this week that the job could be the work of organized crime or commissioned by a major "sponsor."

But lawyer Christopher Marinello, founder and CEO of Art Recovery International , a London and Venice-based group specializing in tracking down stolen works of art, dismisses the latter Hollywood scenario. "There have been questions about some sort of slippery Dr. No-type character who's ordering these thefts from afar for his personal collection in his underwater lair," said Marinello. "But

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