Art theft trial

A UKRAINIAN man accused of directing the theft of a €1.5 million piece of artwork went on trial in Paris on Monday, January 30. The anonymous suspect allegedly masterminded the raid on the Musée de Beaux­Arts in Nancy, France in 2018.

The suspect was arrested in Kyiv one year later by police who had been searching for a murder suspect, when they came across the century ­ old painting that had seemingly disappeared without trace.

The valuable painting by Paul Signac, ‘Le Port de La Rochelle’ was stolen from the gallery by three people. Museum staff review­ ing the footage were shocked by the thieves’ brazen attitude which saw them enter the museum with only head coverings and their faces visible before removing the painting from its frame with a box cutter.

The thieves supposedly rolled up the canvas and carried it out of the museum under one of their coats, all in broad daylight. The man on trial has repeatedly accused fellow Ukrainian, Vadym Huzhva of coordinating the attack. Huzhva has denied any link to the robbery, and was himself serving time in an Austrian prison for another art robbery at the time.

Doppelganger

PROSECUTORS in a murder case in Germany believe the suspect got in contact with a lookalike online in order to fake her own death. Police issued arrest warrants