Bogus Nobleman Found Guilty of Art Theft
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A man who posed as a Hungarian count to steal what is believed to be a Goya painting was found guilty of grand theft Wednesday.
If authentic, the work could be worth $7 million, police said.
Gabor Eordogh, 42, of Hungary befriended an elderly couple and offered to have the painting cleaned in 1997, police said. He fled with the artwork and tried to market it for as much as $75 million, claiming to be the owner, said LAPD Det. Dan Schultz.
The thief, who took on the fictional persona of a Count Gabor Eordogh de Turul, applied for a multimillion-dollar bank loan using the painting as collateral, police said.
He will be sentenced and probably extradited to Hungary, from which he is a fugitive, Schultz said.
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