Eduardo de Valfierno

From Freepedia

Eduardo de Valfierno, who referred to himself as Marques Eduardo de Valfierno, was an Argentine con man who masterminded the theft of the Mona Lisa. Valfierno paid several men to steal the work of art from the Louvre, including museum employee Vincenzo Peruggia. On August 21, 1911 Peruggia hid the Mona Lisa under his coat and simply walked out the door.

Valfierno commissioned French art forger Yves Chaudron to make six copies of the Mona Lisa, then sold them to unscrupulous art collectors beliving they were the original. Because Valfierno only needed the original Mona Lisa to disappear, and not to make forged copies, he never contacted Peruggia again after the crime. Eventually Peruggia was caught trying to sell the painting and it was returned to the Louvre in 1913.