He wanted to “enjoy a luxurious lifestyle”. An employee of a museum in Munich, Germany, convicted of theft, has just been sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to repay the institution more than 60,600 euros ($64,200), the museum said in a statement. Munich court relayed by CNN.
“The accused’s full confessions, including during the preliminary investigation, worked in his favor (…). The accused further demonstrated genuine remorse and insight. He said he had acted without thinking,” said the court press release to justify a reduced sentence. The man, aged 30, replaced a painting with a fake, to sell the original at auction and afford a luxurious lifestyle. He also stole three other works of art.
The man, whose identity has not been revealed, was working at the Deutsches Museum in Munich from May 2016 to April 2018, when he exchanged the painting by Franz von Stuck, The Tale of the Frog Prince, for a fake. After telling an auction house that the work belonged to his family, it was sold for 70,000 euros to a gallery in Switzerland. After deducting costs, the thief received more than 49,000 euros in cash.
Having, as part of his duties, privileged access to the museum’s warehouses where the paintings are kept, the individual did not stop at this single offense. He stole three other paintings, two of which were able to be resold. Thus, The Wine Trial by Eduard von Grützner and Two Young Girls Collecting Wood in the Mountains brought in an additional 11,490 euros, for a total of 60,617.90.
A nest egg used for debt repayment and the purchase of expensive items such as a Rolls-Royce and luxury watches. “The accused shamelessly exploited the possibility of accessing the warehouses of the employer’s buildings and sold valuable cultural property in order to ensure an exclusive standard of living and to assert himself,” mentions the judgment of the September 11th.
The Deutsches Museum told CNN it was doing everything it could to recover the paintings, including seeking to have the sales canceled. The painting, which has not found a buyer, is in the hands of the authorities.