Italian police recover stolen Renoir, Rubens paintings
July 20 (UPI) -- Police in northern Italy recovered two paintings by masters Pierre-August Renoir and Peter Paul Rubens on Friday more than a year after they were stolen from art dealers. Officials in Monza, about 10 miles northeast of Milan, said two suspects posed as bogus buyers and signed a fake contract to pay about $ 30 million for the artworks in April 2017. Police said at least eight people were involved in the scam; officials arrested four Italians and a Croatian, and have identified three others involved. One of the suspects, Nenad Jovanovic, 44, of Croatia, allegedly pretended to be a rabbi. Police said they received a tip about the whereabouts of the artworks, leading to their recovery and the arrests. The stolen paintings included Girls on the Lawn by 18th century French Imp...