Two stolen paintings valued around $800,000 were returned to police in a secretive deal brokered by senior gang members, the Herald can reveal.

The pair of Gottfried Lindauer portraits, Chieftainess Ngatai-Raure and Chief Ngatai-Raure, were painted in 1884 but disappeared after a brazen “smash and grab” robbery in 2017.

A stolen van was reversed into the front window of the International Art Centre in Parnell, before two masked men loaded the paintings - which were due to be sold at auction in a few days - into a white Holden Commodore SSV. A third man drove the getaway vehicle.

Despite the efforts of an extensive investigation, Operation Bower, the police had been unable to recover the missing paintings or make any arrests in connection to the theft.

Five years later, the police made a shock announcement in December that the stolen artworks, estimated to be worth a total of $800,000, had been handed back with only minor damage.

The police were deliberately vague in explaining the details of how, or even why, the Lindauers had suddenly reappeared after so long, and referred only to “an intermediary who sought to return the paintings on behalf of others”.

But the Herald can now reveal the safe return of the portraits was brokered by two senior criminal figures, although wide-ranging suppression orders made by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday mean their identities will remain secret permanently.

Details of the circumstances in which the pair of Lindauers were returned safely to police also cannot be reported because of the strict non-publication orders.

The gang members are currently serving long periods of imprisonment but their criminal offending cannot be reported without breaching the suppression orders.

There is no suggestion either of the two gang members was involved in the theft of the paintings, rather that they were able to use their standing in the criminal world to obtain access to something the police wanted.

The Lindauer portraits were stolen from the International Art Centre in Parnell in a smash-and-grab burglary in the early hours of April 1, 2017. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Fingerprint and DNA testing were carried out on the Lindauer paintings when they were returned to the police, but no charges have been laid.

“Loyalties change over time and there may be people out there that know those responsible for the burglary,” Detective Inspector Scott Beard said in December.

 “It is incredibly fortunate that police have been able to facilitate the return of these paintings more than five years after they were stolen.

“No matter how much time passes we remain open to the fact we can hold a person, or people, to account for the burglary in 2017.”

The pair of Gottfried Lindauer portraits, Chieftainess Ngatai-Raure and Chief Ngatai-Raure, were worth around $800,000. Photo / Supplied