How technical employee in German museum stole original paintings for years without being caught

 

MUNICH – An employee of a Munich museum confessed to replacing several paintings from a depot with fake ones and having the originals auctioned off. 

The Munich District Court sentenced him to a suspended prison term of one year and nine months, the court announced on Monday. 

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The defendant was employed from May 2016 to April 2018 as a technical employee at the museum and had access to the storage room where paintings were kept. 

According to the court, he replaced the painting “Das Märchen vom Froschkönig” (The Fairy Tale of the Frog King) by Franz von Stuck with a forgery.

He offered the original for auction at a Munich auction house, which sold the painting for €70,000 ($74,000) to a gallery in Switzerland. 

After deducting the auction costs, the man was left with €49,127.40 in cash. 

In addition, the now 30-year-old stole the paintings “Die Weinprüfung (Tasting the Wine) by Eduard von Grützner and “Zwei Mädchen beim Holzsammeln im Gebirge” (Two Girls Gathering Wood in the Mountains) by Franz von Defregger from the museum’s storage. 

He also had one of the paintings auctioned off, the other he sold directly to the auction house, which brought him a further total of around €12,000. 

“The accused used the money to pay off debts and to finance a luxurious lifestyle,” the court announced, saying that, among other things, the man bought himself “a new flat, expensive wristwatches and … a Rolls Royce.”

In court, the man had reportedly not only confessed but also shown “sincere remorse and insight.”

“He stated that he had acted without thinking. He could no longer explain his behaviour,” the court reported.