Egyptian Deputy Minister of Culture and ten others sent to jail over theft of Van Gogh painting

Egyptian Deputy Minister of Culture and ten others sent to jail over theft of Van Gogh painting

2010-10-13 12:23:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

CAIRO, EGYPT (BNO NEWS) -- The Egyptian Deputy Minister of Culture and ten others on Tuesday were sentenced to jail terms on negligence charges related to the theft of a Van Gogh painting last August.

According to the Egyptian Gazette, Mohsse Shaalan, the assistant minister of culture and head of the fine arts sector, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined with$1,800 for fatal negligence that resulted in the theft of Van Gogh's "Poppy Flowers."

Ten other officials, including Reem Bahira, the manager of the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum, were also sentenced to three-year terms. Bahira was the manager of the museum from which the painting was stolen on August 22.

The painting, which is worth over $50 million dollars and depicts a vase filled with yellow poppy flowers, was taken from the private museum in a daytime heist after it was cut out of its frame. Only 7 of the 47 security cameras were functioning and alarms installed on the paintings were not working.

Shortly after the incident, Egypt’s Ministry of Culture announced that the thieves, an Italian man and woman, were captured as they were trying to flee back to Italy with the stolen painting. However, it was further indicated that neither the thieves nor the artwork had been detained or recovered.

An Egyptian businessman offered 1 million Egyptian pounds (LE) to anyone who provided information regarding the whereabouts of the painting. However, no one has provided such information so far.

Local authorities are currently carrying out an investigation of the incident as an ongoing search for the painting continues.

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