A 45-year-old freight forwarder was sentenced to two years in prison for aggravated theft by the Vienna Criminal Court on Monday. According to the indictment, at the end of 2012 he stole more than 30 art objects worth 1.3 million euros from that shipping warehouse. Among them were works by Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and old Chinese bronzes.
The Viennese pleaded partially guilty. He stole the items that were found on him, but not other missing works worth around 10,000 euros. The 45-year-old had the keys to the warehouse in Vienna where the items were stored. He liked the objects when he was wandering around there, he gave as the reason for the theft. He wanted to set them up at home. That’s why he “stupidly” took the works with him in his car and then kept them in his house and in the attic of his parents’ house.
However, he had no intention of selling the artworks. He was not aware of their value, the man said.
Offers obtained for villas
However, doubts about this information arose because the Viennese may have asked several experts about the possibility of selling the items in the previous year. However, the 45-year-old explained that he only pretended to be interested in selling in order to find out what the loot was all about. After all, an estimate would have been subject to a fee. However, the defendant also obtained offers for luxurious properties in Germany and abroad.
The thefts were initially not even noticed because the victims did not report it. The authorities only pricked up their ears when the accused made inquiries under a false name in an international database for lost and stolen works of art as to whether the works in question were being searched for.
His defense attorney, Astrid Wagner, pointed out that the accused was an “unimpeachable, inconspicuous, good family man.” He “didn’t dream that such sums were involved”. The jury found the 45-year-old guilty and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. The judgment is not final.
Source: Nachrichten
