Winston Churchill portrait stolen from Château Laurier recovered by Ottawa police — in Italy | CBC News

The “Roaring Lion” has been found.

A 1941 portrait of British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill by famed Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh, which was reported stolen from the lobby of Ottawa’s Fairmont Château Laurier hotel in August 2022, has been located in Italy, police sources have told CBC News. 

Ottawa police investigators, who tracked the photo down, say it is set to be returned to the hotel.

A 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ont., was arrested April 25 and appeared in court in Ottawa the next day, charged with multiple offences, including theft, forgery and trafficking in stolen property. His name is under a publication ban.

Ottawa Police Service’s Acting Detective Sgt. Akiva Geller said he could not elaborate on why the publication ban was sought. He said details about the portrait’s recovery have not been released until now due to the necessary diplomacy required in an international case.

The brazen heist, which made international headlines, occurred during a COVID-19-related lockdown in Ottawa some time between Christmas Day 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, the hotel determined. No one was in the building during that period.

The photo had been gifted to the hotel by Karsh himself and had been on public display at the Château for decades until it was removed from the wall and replaced by a fake, which then hung in its place, unnoticed, for eight months.

A complex, global investigation

After learning of the theft, Ottawa police began a global hunt for the photo, ultimately tracking it down in Italy.

Geller said it was the most complicated case he has ever dealt with. It was an “extensive” investigation, involving forensic analysis, tips from the public and support from international organizations, he said.

There was particular help from the London Metropolitan Police, who, he said, were “essentially [the Ottawa Police Service’s] right hand.”

Ottawa police told CBC News that they determined a buyer in Genoa, Italy, had purchased the photo from the London auction house Sotheby’s. They emphasized that at the time of the sale, neither party was aware it had been stolen. The Italian buyer is not a suspect in the case.

Geller explained the portrait was sold at the auction before the fraudulent version was discovered in the Château Laurier, so they had no reason to suspect it was stolen.

Will be handed over later this month

Karsh’s photo — one of the most well-known portraits in the world, and nicknamed “the Roaring Lion” — is now set to be formally handed over to Canadian government officials at a ceremony in Rome later this month.

It is to be returned to the hotel some time after that and re-hung on the wall of its lobby.

Jerry Fielder, director of Karsh’s estate, told CBC’s Nicole Williams that police have kept in touch with him, saying that the investigation was open and “they were feeling positive.”

He said he was able to tell Karsh’s wife, Estrellita Karsh, this morning that the portrait had been recovered “and she was absolutely thrilled.”

In a joint press conference with Geller, the Fairmont Château Laurier general manager Geneviève Dumas said the portrait will be under increased security when it returns. After the fraudulent version was discovered, Dumas said the hotel took down other art and got in touch with security specialists to make sure they were displayed in a way that still kept them protected.