firestone's dividends are overdue, and investors are antsy. under pressure, the mastermind packs his bags and skips town. >> whew. he was gone. loaded everything into a bmw and headed south. >> narrator: detective jay brown begins to hunt for firestone with a search warrant for the con man's home and his computer hard drive. >> everything that was generated, all the paperwork that he generated, was in that computer. he had spreadsheets with victims and how much they paid and when their next check was due. and everything was fraudulent. every piece of paper that was generated over that five-year period was all generated in his loft by him to perpetuate this crime. >> narrator: the tool search documents tell the story of a classic ponzi scheme. there is no business, no products, no sales. nothing but money shifting from one investor to the next. >> his whole life was a lie. >> narrator: fbi special agent marcus knutson joins the hunt for firestone. >> well, jay and i were kind of behind the 8 ball for a little bit because we didn't get involved with this until after he fled. >> this is a typical picture of him right here. look at that big bass. man, those are great. >> narrator: as investigators search for jonathan ross firestone, they come to discover they are chasing a shadow. >> big fish. big fish. the investigation reveals that there's no such person. >> narrator: police are unaware that firestone is actually barry richard hunt, a man who fled new hampshire under similar circumstances in 1989. >> at that point, we're dealing with, okay, we got this guy named jonathan firestone, but we don't know who he is. we have photos of him, but we have no clue who this guy is. and that obviously made our hunt for him even more difficult. >> narrator: they decide to plaster firestone's face on the fbi's "most wanted" website. >> we're hoping that someone would see that photo and either recognize him from the past or recognize him, that, "he's now living next door to me." you know, we had no idea who this guy was, and we're hoping that somehow we'd be able to figure out who he was. >> narrator: with the master con man in the wind, his victims are left to cope with the fallout of his crime. >> even though it's a white-collar crime, you know, it just tears people up. >> narrator: suzette invested $36,000 in tool search. >> it really rips a lot of things out of people's lives, even though, oh, it's money. but, you know, that's a lot of people's stability. >> you know, my retirement is what i'm able to make of it, plus social security. >> narrator: patricia patton lost $15,000. >> being self-employed, you've got to keep money, you know, backup in case you get sick. you know, it just -- it took a major... it took a major, you know, cushion out of my life. >> the whole thing beat me up pretty badly. >> narrator: perhaps no one lost more than elaine nelson. the con man's girlfriend invested $15,000... and her heart. >> you don't trust anybody anymore, and i was scared that i would never be able to find anybody that loved me again, and it was a lonely existence for a little while there, yeah. >> narrator: for a year and a half, firestone's location remains a mystery. then in the fall of 2004, the fbi gets the phone call they were hoping for. >> we get contacted by a woman on the east coast who said that she had queried google for a friend that she had met during the summer who was renting a home near her. >> narrator: the woman lives in a small town on the jersey shore. she tells the agents about a man she knows who seems to be hiding from someone. >> yeah, she thought something was weird about him. he would park with his car backed in. he would do weird stuff -- stuff that normal human beings would not do. >> so she had this, you know, this little tingling on the back of her neck that this guy may not be as legitimate as he claims to be. >> narrator: but the fugitive is growing careless, referring to himself as ross firestone one day, then jonathan the next. >> so she googles "jonathan ross firestone." boom, the fbi web page shows up. >> and up pops his wanted poster, and she positively identified him as the individual she had contacted. >> narrator: the woman tells police that firestone has moved on, but she does give them a number of valuable leads, including the con man's cellphone number. those 10 digits are all the fbi needs to zero in on the master scammer. >> yeah, we're learning that he is somewhere near jacksonville, florida, in a small town called ocala. >> narrator: two days later, an fbi arrest team moves on firestone at a gym. they find him on a leg machine. the man who has spent 15 years on the run is working on his quadriceps. >> he was grateful. from what i got, the feedback i got back, he was grateful that he had finally got caught. because one of the first things he said to these fbi agents was, "now i can call my mom." you know, it's kind of sweet, you know? [ chuckles ] >> narrator: firestone goes quietly into custody, but he does toss out one final bombshell. >> that his real name is barry richard hunt and that he was wanted by the fbi in new hampshire. >> narrator: the fugitive is extradited back to reno, nevada, to face trial. on july 8, 2005, barry hunt pleads guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of bank fraud. he's sentenced to six years in prison. as part of the plea deal, hunt agrees to pay $2.9 million in restitution to his victims. >> if we ever see anything, we'll be shocked. >> narrator: barry hunt claims he's broke, and police believe him. they think he blew it all. and at the federal prison near el paso where he does his time, hunt makes a whopping 69 cents an hour. >> you know, unless he got out and somebody was following him and he has money stashed offshore somewhere, there's no chance. unless maybe he hit the lottery. >> narrator: hunt's capture also closes the books on the scam he pulled in exeter, new hampshire, where it all started. perhaps surprisingly, most of hunt's victims here were unaware of his arrest and conviction until "american greed" came calling. >> well, i was fairly excited to know that i knew where he was now. you know, you always want some closure to the deal. and knowing that i can go out to texas and see him is pretty good closure. [ chuckles ] >> he certainly had a knack. my charity doesn't go as far as labeling him as a genius. [ chuckles ] though he may be. but everyone knows what human nature is. it's no secret. it's a matter of whether you take advantage of it. a word he used a lot was "greed." he blamed it all on greed. and i never was sure whether he was referring to my greed, the greed of the investors, or his own greed, whether he was saying something in code. but greed was what he felt underlay this whole mess that had developed. i think he was right. >> narrator: and up next, it's an art heist like you've never seen before. >> they were obviously professionals. >> narrator: thieves make off with two paintings worth $4 million. >> it's such a stab to anyone who loves art. >> narrator: when we return, "american greed" goes into the >> narrator: when we return, "american greed" goes into the gallery and inside the crime. >> narrator: when we return, "american greed" goes into the gallery and inside the crime. dealing with our finances really haunted me.ttle cranky. thankfully, i got quickbooks, and a live bookkeeper's helping customize it for our business. (live bookkeeper) you're all set up! (janine) great! (vo) get set up right with a live bookkeeper with intuit quickbooks. >> narrator: it's a daring heist, pulled off by trained professionals, like a scene that was made for the movies. but this time it's for real. >> it was probably the worst experience of our lives. >> narrator: july of 2002, burglars break into a gallery in west hollywood, california, and make a clean getaway with two paintings by famed american artist maxfield parrish, valued at $4 million. >> it's like, you know, a 007 movie -- you know, cutting the roof and breaching the security system, shorting out wires, how they removed the paintings, how they got out, and how they went undetected by doing all this. >> narrator: the west hollywood heist has made its way onto the fbi's top-10 list of art crimes, but it all started 1,500 miles away with an art collector in houston, texas. >> all these paintings down this wall are texas artists. >> narrator: j.p. bryan is a texas oil man with a penchant for fine art. >> and there's the man right there that won the battle of san jacinto, sam houston, the sword of san jacinto, as they like to call him. >> narrator: over the past 25 years, bryan has amassed a collection of more than 10,000 pieces, mostly art and artifacts from the old west. >> i love western art. i love the action that's implied in it. i love the subject matter. and to me the most fascinating part of the settlement of these united states is the western part of it. oh, that's andy warhol's custer, annie oakley, and geronimo there. >> narrator: today his office appears to be as much an art museum as it is the corporate headquarters of a thriving energy company. >> my favorite one was this one right behind my desk, "the longhorn." and there he is taking a long look, which is what the west is all about. it's about the long view. art is obviously a central focus of the collection. but there's also an interesting assemblage of spurs, saddles, bridles. and what we tried to do was just not get a gun or a saddle or a bridle, but get something with an interesting provenance. >> narrator: in may of 1999, j.p. bryan came across a set of paintings by maxfield parrish, a premier american artist. >> a friend of mine one day called me and said, "i've got some maxfield parrishes that could be for sale. would you be interested in buying them?" "no, not really," because i don't collect parrishes. it's just outside my collection venue. >> narrator: although not a collector of parrish, bryan saw an opportunity to buy the paintings and turn a quick profit. >> you know, maxfield parrish, along with norman rockwell, the two greatest american illustrators. and i saw the paintings. i thought they were magnificent. >> narrator: maxfield parrish has an impressive following in the u.s. and is one of the most reproduced artists of all time. >> during the '20s, one out of every five american homes had a parrish print. >> narrator: perhaps no one knows this better than alma gilbert-smith, the leading broker in the sale of original parrish paintings. >> look at that sense of light. it's called the "land of make-believe." >> narrator: the author of 12 books on parrish, gilbert lives in the parrish home and directs a museum dedicated to his work. >> i can still almost feel his energy in the paintings. and that's why, you know, at the age of 70, i'm still, you know, maintaining, you know, a museum and doing the tours and things when i have no business doing that at the age of 70. but, you know, i'm there because i love it. i'm there because i get a high every time i see somebody who is seeing a parrish painting for the first time and say, "oh, my god." >> narrator: the parrish art that was up for sale was part of a set of seven oil paintings commissioned by gertrude vanderbilt whitney in the early 1900s. >> she wanted something in a mural form that would be very, very special for her home. and she wanted to show young people all dressed up, having a wonderful time, like a party. this is the north wall panel. >> narrator: the north wall of the reception room held one panel measuring 18 feet. and the three surrounding walls each held two paintings that measured 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 feet. together they depict a continuous scene of a party. >> and they would be connected so, you know, it was surround sound with whitney murals. this is the longest single work that parrish ever did. >> narrator: in june of 1999, the north wall panel goes on display in alma gilbert's museum, and j.p. bryan purchases the six remaining murals. >> i love the historical connection because they were done for mrs. vanderbilt whitney, who was at the time arguably the greatest collector of american paintings of anybody during that period. >> narrator: bryan consigns the six paintings to edenhurst, a fine-art gallery in southern california, where interest in maxfield parrish runs high. >> there's a number of people in the entertainment community that are fascinated with maxfield parrish works. and so obviously many of those people, residents, are in california. >> i think art is the ultimate collectible. it's certainly the most valuable collectible. >> narrator: thom gianetto is the co-owner of edenhurst gallery, the man who has spent three decades studying and dealing in fine art. >> maxfield parrish is a very important american painter. so to have these very large canvases was a privilege and an honor and wonderful to have them around. we had people coming in from all over the world. >> narrator: for 12 months, the paintings hang here at edenhurst's west hollywood location. they are shown daily to potential buyers. >> the asking price was $15 million for the 6 paintings. >> there seemed to be a lot of interest. matter of fact, we had, i think -- edenhurst would know better, but my recollection is they had several offers. >> i almost felt i was like an emcee for that year that they were there. i mean, i entertained a lot of people. >> narrator: and while some come perhaps to buy, many more come just to look. >> we had all kinds of people. we had students. we had art collectors. we had curious dabblers. most people had never even seen a parrish in person, certainly had never seen such large parrishes. so we had every kind of person. >> narrator: what gianetto doesn't realize is that some of those faces in the crowd could be quietly casing his gallery, waiting for the perfect moment to make off with the prized paintings. >> we felt protected in every way because we had everything in place as far as security goes. as much as you think you are protected, you really aren't. because if someone wants something, they can go to extreme measures to get what they want. in this case someone really they want. in this case someone really wanted those works of art. they want. in this case someone really wor here on a wifi hotspot. lte xfinity mobile has more coverage to keep you connected to what matters most. that's because it's the only wireless network that automatically connects you to millions of secure wifi hotspots and the best lte everywhere else. save up to $400 a year when you switch. plus, save even more with $100 off galaxy a50. click, call or visit a store today. >> narrator: july 29, 2002 -- just another monday morning in l.a. but for gallery owner thom gianetto, today will be the worst day of his life. >> i first got the news via a cellphone call on my way to the gallery. the parrishes are gone. the two parrishes missing. >> narrator: the two parrishes are paintings by the famed american artist maxfield parrish, valued at $4 million. >> i arrived to see that they had actually been cut from their stretcher bars. it's just an emotional meltdown. your mind races. and you think of all the thefts of all the great works of art, and you realize that here it is happening to you. >> i was working out of west hollywood station -- primarily crimes against persons. >> narrator: scott petz is a detective with the los angeles county sheriff's department. >> and so we were sent over there right away because we heard it was a high-dollar-loss theft. and there's the gallery with the two missing pieces right there. >> narrator: two massive frames hang on the wall, empty, the treasured artwork carefully sliced out. >> yeah, you can see there was little portions in the corner of the painting that was left behind. so that's some of the paint that just had flaked off during the cut. >> narrator: detective petz looks for clues but finds the gallery relatively undisturbed. >> it wasn't damaged. there wasn't things thrown about or strewn about. but we did notice right away that there was a ladder in the kitchen area. >> narrator: from the kitchen, petz discovers the spot where the thieves came and went. >> this is the drop ceiling. you can see if you look up through there, there's the hole in the roof that's actually cut out. they gained access by cutting out a 4x4 section of the roof. the weak point in virtually any commercial structure right there. it's plywood that's covered with a composite material and some tar. and it's generally not covered by alarms or by extra security, so it's a common place for them to enter. so what they did is they cut through the roof, got down to the drop ceiling. >> narrator: inside the drop ceiling, the thieves had access to the alarm system and the skill to defuse it. >> they went in into the electrical panel up in the subroof. they stripped the wires, and they shorted out that keypad. >> narrator: the intruders intentionally tripped the alarm, then sat back to watch as police responded eight separate times. with each call, police and security found no signs of a break-in. they soon began to suspect that the alarm system itself was faulty. >> so the alarm was set off late saturday evening. the following day at 4:00, the paintings are still in place. >> narrator: by sunday morning, everyone had concluded that the alarm was broken and simply stopped responding. >> people's reaction tends to wane because they feel that it's a false alarm. and that's what the owners believed. that's what the deputies began to believe. and i'm sure the security company themselves started to believe that, yeah, we have a bad security alarm. >> narrator: and with that, the thieves went to work. slipping through the hole in the roof and into the dark gallery, they sliced the canvases from their frames, rolled them up, and made a clean getaway with $4 million of art in tow. >> they were obviously professionals. >> narrator: professionals who went in specifically to take two of the maxfield parrish canvases. >> although they had other very valuable pieces there, there was nothing else missing. >> in fact, there were very valuable pieces sitting very nearby on the floor because they were ready to be hung. there were paintings worth millions of dollars as well in the near vicinity. >> which told you that these items were targeted. >> and why those two when there were six, we don't know. >> narrator: detective petz works the case for four months but finds very little in the way of leads. >> we didn't have any eyewitnesses and no physical evidence other than one foot-impression print that we had. that was only partial and wasn't able to yield a size or a particular type of shoe. so, no, we never got any traction at all. we never had any suspect or even a person of interest. >> well, it's like a death of a friend. >> narrator: the news hits hard for j.p. bryan, the owner of the stolen paintings. >> they sort of walk away from you gradually in your memory. it's the same thing with art. you just -- you feel very angered and unhappy about it initially, but then, you know, over time you finally adjust to the circumstances. so when it's finished, this will be mapping texas in the west. >> narrator: j.p. bryan doesn't expect to see the paintings returned in his lifetime. >> no. i think whoever got them... was very specific in their desires to own those particular panels. and until they die, i don't think they'll ever emerge again. >> narrator: unfortunately, bryan is not alone. art theft is a growing trend worldwide. it's big business, accounting for nearly $6 billion in losses each year. >> it's definitely a rising crime problem in the world, and it's really a global -- a global problem. >> narrator: chris calarco is 1 of 12 in the fbi's art-crime team, special agents who investigate and recover stolen art, artifacts, and antiquities. >> i kind of approach my art cases like i would approach any other major theft type of case. it's like, you know, you look at, you know, who are the thieves who could pull this particular thing off, you know, who are the known thieves that you know about. you know, we have informants that are giving us information all the time about people who are doing particular crimes. and these are a couple pieces of the art that we recovered. >> narrator: since its inception in 2004, the team has recovered 850 items worth more than $65 million, including a rembrandt self-portrait worth $36 million and norman rockwell's "russian schoolroom," valued at $700,000. >> these are photographs of the stolen murals. >> narrator: in march 2005, calarco picks up the case of the stolen maxfield parrish paintings and turns to the media for help. >> you know, with a case like this, you know, we try to get the story out in the media again, you know, try to breathe some new life into it, and this case was -- or this particular art theft was put on the fbi's top ten art crimes. >> narrator: when the fbi releases a list of the top ten art crimes in the world, maxfield parrish canvases are number eight. the list generates numerous tips but nothing that takes calarco to the paintings. for now the case remains open and active. >> we just hope that somewhere out there somebody is gonna see the art or hear about it in the news and say, "you know what? i saw that piece. so-and-so has that piece in their house" or they heard someone talking about it at a cocktail party. "i'm going to call the fbi." and hopefully that will be the type of tip that breaks the case open for me. >> narrator: if you have any information about the maxfield parrish murals, please contact the fbi at 310-477-6565. or leave a tip at americangreed.cnbc.com. in an upcoming episode of "american greed"... >> nobody had heard from him nor seen him. so i decided to call the police. >> narrator: a patient ends up dead. >> we found him dead in his kitchen, laying on the floor with dr. barnes' prescription in his hand. >> narrator: was it the illness, or was it the doctor? happy friday, "options action" fans we have a big show lined up tonight here is what's on tap. >> announcer: forget bond. it's really about. >> q, q. >> carter worth spies with his little eye something lurking in the shadows of the nasdaq. >> i think he got the point. >> then. >> are you familiar with the ge oven >> tony zhang thinks something is cooking at general electric and he has the options recipe. and sticking with all things electric. >> i've come to see tesla. >> mike khouw has jo

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