Man Charged With Allegedly Stealing Dali Painting From Manhattan Gallery
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A man has been charged with allegedly stealing a Salvador Dali painting from an Upper East Side gallery.
Phivos Istavrioglou was indicted on second-degree grand larceny charges in the theft of a Dali 1949 watercolor, the 'Cartel de Don Juan Tenorio', from the Venus Over Manhattan gallery.
The painting is worth around $150,000.
Police say the 29-year-old walked into the gallery last June, put the painting into a shopping bag, then walked out.
Shortly after police released a surveillance picture, the painting was anonymously mailed back to the gallery from Greece.
Police say Istavrioglou was then apprehended earlier this week by an undercover detective posing as a Manhattan gallery manager.