Alleged Mobster's Home Searched Over Stolen Art

Federal agents are searching the home of an accused mobster who is thought to know the whereabouts of masterpieces stolen from a Boston museum, the FBI has confirmed.

Robert Gentile, 80, is due to face trial in July for allegedly selling a loaded firearm to a convicted killer, a charge his lawyer claims was the result of an FBI sting operation intended to make him divulge information on paintings stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

Gentile has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the stolen art, which was valued at $500m when it was taken.

Kristen Setera, a spokeswoman for Boston FBI, said that agents were "conducting court-authorised activity" at Gentile's home in Manchester, Connecticut, but did not provide further details.

Gentile's lawyer, Ryan McGuigan, said: "From my client's perspective, he believes he and his family are being harassed.

"He's nearly 81 years old, his wife is elderly, he has been the subject of these searches for the past four years and feels that he is being harassed."

The latest FBI operation is the third time Gentile's home has been searched, Mr McGuigan said. He also denied prosecutors' allegations that Gentile is a made member of the Philadelphia Mafia.

In 1990, two men dressed in Boston police uniforms tricked security guards into letting them into the museum.

They then tied up the guards and stole 13 artworks, including Rembrandt's Storm On The Sea Of Galilee and Vermeer's The Concert.

None of the artwork has been recovered and no one has been arrested.

At a court hearing in 2015, federal prosecutors said that Gentile had been secretly recorded telling an undercover FBI agent that he had access to at least two of the stolen paintings and could sell them for $500,000 each.

A 2012 FBI search of his home revealed a handwritten list of the stolen art, its estimated value and police uniforms, according to court documents.

Gentile is also accused of talking about the paintings with at least three fellow prisoners at a Rhode Island jail, including information on who to call about the art and what code name to use.

Three years ago, the FBI said investigators believed the art thieves belonged to a criminal organisation based in New England and the mid-Atlantic.

They believe the art was taken to Connecticut and Pennsylvania and offered up for sale, before the trail went cold.

The museum is still offering a $5m reward for the return of the artwork.