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Picasso missing after teens trash mansion

A Picasso worth $30,000 is missing.

And no, this isn’t a scene out of Ocean’s Eleven.

A real-life Novato mega-mansion previously occupied by imprisoned former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko —and, separately, actor Eddie Murphy — was overrun by an unauthorized party of about 100 boozed-up teenagers.

And no, this isn’t a scene out of Project X.

But the hijinks didn’t stop with the Picasso lithograph. The IJ reports about $5,000 in leather jackets, laptops, and silver candlesticks are also missing after the party-happy minors did their thing.

Party-turned-stolen-goods-fest. Maybe Hollywood should just make this incident into a movie.

Novato police received a call the night of May 27 about a high school party at the 19,500 square foot estate. When they arrived, the teens scattered off the property before they could be arrested.

The next day, the caretaker for the property arrived to find three teens in the backyard. Once again, they fled, but the caretaker discovered both stolen and broken property inside and around the estate.

The only lead police have so far is an Instagram account that posted photos of the property on the day of the alleged party.

The mansion itself has an interesting back story: Lazarenko acquired the property just a few months before being arrested in Switzerland for money laundering. He then escaped to New York where he was arrested again, and is currently serving time in a low-security federal prison near Los Angeles.

Lazarenko was convicted for hiding millions — yes, millions — of dollars in a tangled web of American banks, with assets spread out in offshore accounts all over the world. Not to mention that his company, Dugsbery Inc., still owns the Novato property and owes roughly $2.1 million in back taxes and late payment fines.

Agents for Dugsbery Inc. — surprise surprise — could not be reached by the IJ for comment after the high school party.

Last modified June 10, 2012 1:44 am

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