In 1978 thieves stole seven paintings from Michael Bakwin. “The paintings, worth about $3 million, surfaced last spring in London, in the possession of the Erie International Trading Co., an obscure organization with a Panamanian address. When Bakwin learned that the company had plans to auction the works, he asked the Art Loss Register, a firm that tracks stolen art, to intervene. Julian Radcliffe, chairman of the Art Loss Register, said he wants to know who the owners of Erie International Trading are, how they got the paintings, and what they may know about the theft.”