Audio By Carbonatix
Independent Journalism in Miami Needs You
We need to raise $10,000 by August 9 to support the reporting our community depends on. Reader support keeps us independent and is playing a larger role in funding local journalism and shaping what comes next. If you believe independent local journalism matters, make a contribution today.
Early last month, Eduardo Goudie was set to move into his new home on North Greenway Drive in Coral Gables. He had already moved in his eclectic art collection which featured contemporary painters from all across the world, but when he returned to the home on April 3 he found that five paintings worth a total of $350,000 had been cut from their frames and taken.
Now police have nabbed Raluxi Raul Erbiti and Dania Rojas, a married couple, both 39 years old, for pulling off the heist.
According to NBC Miami, one work by Cuban painter Leopoldo Romañach was worth $150,000, a work by Cuban-American modernist Cundo Bermudez worth $50,000, a painting by Cuban surrealist Wilfredo Lam valued at $75,000, a work by Pakistani artist Jamali, the originator of “Mystical Expressionism,” worth $25,000, and another unknown artist’s work valued at $50,000.
Coral Gables police began an investigation with the Hialeah PD, Miami-Dade PD, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the DEA, and Homeland Security which soon lead to Erbiti and Rojas.
An informant contacted Erbiti last week and agreed to meet him in the parking lot of a Sam’s Club in Miramar to discuss the possible sale of the paintings. The couple then showed up the next day at the informant’s office and offered two paintings for $90,000. Eventually the price agreed upon was $150,000 for the entire lot.
When they arranged to meet again it wasn’t the informant but rather police who were waiting for Erbiti and Rojas. They now face charges of second-degree grand theft and dealing in stolen property.
