Tolik antických nádob pohromadě se jen tak nevidí.
25. 5. 2015 Police officers discover over 5000 antiques
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Eight years ago, police broke up a criminal network that was smuggling treasures out of Italy. Over 5,000 antiquities were seized, including jewellery, bronze statues and frescoes. Their total value was estimated by experts at around €50 million.
The smugglers transported the treasures from Italy via Switzerland. The antiquities were then sold in Germany, the UK, the US, Japan and Australia. The precious objects came from illegal excavations in Italy and were discovered in warehouses in Switzerland belonging to a Sicilian art dealer.
The seizures included a large number of vases, jewellery, bronze statues and frescoes. "In terms of the quantity and quality of archaeological treasures, this is one of the biggest organised crimes in Italian history," said Mariano Mossa, head of the department specialising in antiquities theft.
The prosecution claimed that the arrested Basel dealer Gianfranco Becchina and his wife Ursula Juraschek were part of a group of smugglersof art dealers linked to grave robbers in southern Italy and stretching to dealers in various parts of the world.
The dealers produced fake certificates of authenticity and created false histories of individual objects so that museums and private collectors could buy them in good faith. The works were restored in Switzerland and then sold in Germany, Britain, the United States, Japan and Australia.
Becchino was arrested by Italian police, while his wife was arrested by Swiss police. Authorities have promised to show the 5,361 works, dating from the eighth century BC to the third century AD, to the public before they are returned to museums.
This is not an isolated case. Three years ago, the Egyptian judiciary wanted to try Ladislav Otakar Skakal, a former Italian honorary consul in Luxor with Czech roots. According to Egyptian prosecutors, in 2018 he tried to transport 21,855 items in a diplomatic container to the Italian port of Salerno. Investigators discovered more items at Skakal's former home in Cairo.
Sources: www.dailymail.co.uk, www.bbc.com, www.rozhlas.cz
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