Lawyer cleared in Da Vinci case is arrested in embezzlement probe

Published on Monday 5 July 2010 16:07

A LAWYER cleared of extortion over the return of the Da Vinci masterpiece Madonna of the Yarnwinder has been arrested on suspicion of theft.

Police have interviewed Marshall Ronald over allegations he embezzled 800,000 from a client to fund the recapture of the painting, which was stolen from the wall of Drumlanrig Castle, near Dumfries, in one of the most dramatic art thefts in post-war British history.

Mr Ronald, who is also under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in connection with the same allegations and faces being struck off if found guilty, has been bailed to return to Skelmersdale police station, in Lancashire, where he lives, on 13 October.

Charges of trying to extort 4.25 million from the Duke of Buccleuch for the return of the painting were found not proven against the 53-year-old solicitor and his clients Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 63, both private investigators from Ormskirk, Lancashire, at the High Court in Edinburgh, in April. Calum Jones, 45, and David Boyce, 63, both solicitors based in Glasgow, were found not guilty after the same trial.

In a separate investigation linked to the painting, the Crown Office dropped charges of extortion against Michael Brown, 48, of Glasgow, George Short, 57 of Cumbernauld, and James Boyle, 67, of Paisley. It means no-one has been prosecuted in connection with the theft of the 40m masterpiece.

It was stolen in August 2003 by two men posing as tourists who threatened a tour guide with an axe before fleeing through a window at the back of the building and into a waiting car.

The oil painting, from the early 16th century, which is believed to feature the same woman portrayed in the Mona Lisa, was on the FBI's top 10 most wanted list of missing art treasures until its return by Mr Ronald, Mr Graham and Mr Doyle, in October 2007, to an undercover police officer posing as an insurance agent. It is alleged Mr Ronald stole 800,000 from one of his clients, Jimmy Tierney, boss of Quiggins, to secure the release of the painting. Mr Tierney had received the compensation from Liverpool City Council and the Duke of Westminster, following the compulsory purchase of his antiques store to make way for the new Liverpool One shopping centre.

Dumfries and Galloway police are still investigating the original theft and analysing DNA, as well as looking into similar crimes, including an attempted break-in at Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow two years earlier and the theft of a 3m Cezanne from an Oxford gallery in 2000.

The investigation into the theft of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder has cost 380,000 - 250,000 spent by Dumfries and Galloway police and 130,000 by the Crown Office.

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: "We arrested a man, 53, on suspicion of theft relating to more than 800,000. Investigations are continuing."

Mr Ronald will attend a hearing of the Solicitors Regulation Authority on Thursday.

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