On March 20 a French court found a former electrician and his wife guilty of hiding 271 works by renowned Spanis artist Pablo Picasso. Pierre Le Guennec, 75, claimed that the works that he had been keeping in his garage from some 40 years were given to him by Picasso's last wife Jacqueline when he was working at the artist's house in the early 1970s. However, Picasso's son Claude said his father would have never given his works to a stranger.

The collection of Picasso's works created between 1900 and 1932 is estimated at 100 million euros. Le Guennec and his wife Danielle were facing up to five years in jail but the court in the southern city of Grasse gave them a two-year suspended sentence wrapping up the case that made headlines across the globe.

According to the Interpol, art theft is the third most profitable crime after drug and arms trade. The biggest art heist in history was committed in Paris in 2010. Five outstanding paintings by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Fernand Leger and Georges Braque with an overall value of around $500 million were stolen from Paris Museum of Modern Art.

Learn about other art heists in this photo gallery by TASS.