Art crimes revealed

New Haven (WTNH) - When you think of art crimes, you probably think of movies or fiction books however, art theft is the third highest-grossing criminal enterprise worldwide, coming in just behind drugs and arms trafficking. Noah Charney , an art historian, professor and author is considered to be a leading authority on art crime, he told "Good Morning Connecticut" all about the subject and gave us the inside scoop on his thriller "The Art Thief."

Charney says that art crime has funded international organized crime for years and has even helped fund terrorist organizations. His novel
"The Art Thief" centers around three major art heists in Rome, Paris and London that have investigators scratching their heads; we later find that these apparently isolated crimes have much more in common than anyone imagines.

Charney says his novel is full of art-historical detail and it has been labeled a "stylish thriller." Charney, a New Haven native, holds advanced degrees in art history from The Courtauld Institute and Cambridge University. He is also the founding director of ARCA, the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, a non-profit think tank and research group on issues in art crime.

Charney lectures throughout the world on the subject of art history and all aspects of art crime, teaching criminal investigators, museum security directors and students.