The authorities believe all of the paintings were removed from France. Birn's co-defendants testified he was "too smart" to destroy €100 million worth of artwork.[13] The French auctioneer and president of the Association du Palais de Tokyo [fr], Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr [fr], commented, "These five paintings are unsellable, so thieves, sirs, you are imbeciles, now return them."