Art reported stolen is found in owner's St. Paul home

When works by Rembrandt, Salvador Dali and other noted artists turned up on an Internet auction site last spring, it might have seemed like a sudden boon to the art world.

After all, the artwork had officially been missing since 2007, when a St. Paul man reported that they'd been stolen from him.

When government agents armed with a federal search warrant entered Jason Sheedy's home this month, however, they reported finding those same artworks that he reported stolen four years ago. The warrant and related documents were unsealed this week in St. Paul.

Sheedy filed a $274,905 insurance claim for the missing art and collected $254,832 in January 2008, according to a sworn statement by FBI agent Amanda Knez. According to Knez, investigators learned that Sheedy listed six of the artworks on an Internet auction site last May, and that he'd pawned and redeemed some of the missing pieces several times.

Sheedy, 38, has not been charged with a crime. But Knez wrote in her affidavit that investigators had found evidence of mail fraud and wire fraud. Sheedy did not respond to e-mails or phone messages Friday.

Among the items Sheedy reported stolen were three photos signed by former President Jimmy Carter and the Dalai Lama holding their respective Nobel Peace Prizes. He estimated on a police report that they were worth $20,500.

The Carter Center in Atlanta lists Sheedy, a management consultant, on its board of councilors. He's also listed as a donor who gave between $25,000 and $99,999 to the center during 2008-2009.

"I think he's a sweetheart," Speeth said. "As a board member, he's attentive, aware ... really everything you'd want."

Sheedy filed a police report in Minneapolis in September 2007. He said he was moving from his St. Paul home to a Minneapolis condo, but had to park the moving van on the street for a few days because the condo wasn't ready. He told police that someone broke off the padlock and stole his belongings, including the art and collectibles.

The items he listed as having historical value include the Carter photos, a silver-and-gold Arabic knife, and a number of paintings and etchings.

They include "Robbers Inferno," a 24-inch wood engraving from Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali's "Divine Comedy" portfolio; eight works by Rembrandt: "Bust of a Man," "Christ and the Woman," "Landscape With Cow," "Self-Portrait," "Artist's Mother," "The Card Player," "The Golf Player" and "The Raising of Lazarus"; two works by Russian-born French artist and designer Erté (Romain de Tirtoff); two by Ukrainian-American artist Anatole Krasnyansky and two by American pop artist Peter Max.

AXA Art Insurance Corp., which paid Sheedy's claim, documented that six of the works that investigators believe he listed for sale this year on Artbrokerage.com were the same ones it had insured. The insurer's documents indicate that he bought the works through Park West Gallery, an auction house, and include an invoice from Princess Cruises Fine Arts for one of the Peter Max pieces.

Sheedy also used some of the artwork as collateral to obtain loans at Pawn America on University Avenue in St. Paul, Knez said. Investigators found receipts from the pawn transactions in the trash outside Sheedy's residence. He paid off the loans and redeemed the collateral, Knez said.

Investigators searched Sheedy's home in the 1800 block of Feronia Avenue in St. Paul on Dec. 13. They found 22 works of art and historic items that had been reported missing in 2007. They also seized financial records, insurance and sale documents, and computer equipment and storage devices.