[CPProt.net] UK: Stolen country house antiques recovered

[MSN and CPProt list (Ton Cremers)]

Stolen country house antiques recovered 

Mar 12 2005

 
Staff Reporter, Western Mail
 
  
A HUGE haul of stolen antiques and art worth more than £500,000 was
recovered by police as they smashed an alleged organised crime network.

The property stolen from country houses, galleries and homes was recovered
from south-east of London, Essex and Kent following a series of 13 raids.

Two men and a woman were arrested in south-east London on suspicion of money
laundering and conspiring to launder money from the sale of the property.

Today's operation was the culmination of a two-year investigation into the
theft of property amounting to £30m.

The Met's Art and Antiques Unit launched Operation Copernicos to tackle
those believed to be laundering the proceeds of high-value burglaries
through an organised criminal network operating in south-east London.

The Met worked with other forces in areas affected by burglaries, including
Thames Valley, Wiltshire, Sussex and Suffolk.

The investigation, which centred on activities in Catford, south-east
London, culminated today in raids on 13 properties in south-east London.

Two men, aged 46 and 73, were arrested at an auction house and the
50-year-old woman was arrested at a separate address in south-east London.

Detective Chief Inspector David Thompson said, "The operation identified a
professional criminal network which was responsible for the wholesale theft
and sale of valuable items from country houses.

"We hope that today's action, by dismantling the principal outlet in
south-east England for the laundering of high value stolen goods, will
prevent future losses and protect both valuable property and potential
victims in the future."

Among the stolen items were miniature paintings from Madresfield Court in
Worcestershire. Thieves rowed across a moat to get into the house during a
night-time raid.

Silver worth £1m snatched from a dealer in Petworth, Surrey, was found.

Valuable 18th-century peat and plate buckets, together with a collection of
precious items in an ornate travel box, worth £150,000 and stolen from a
country house in Wiltshire, were also recovered along with decorative
objects from a country house in Berkshire.

Hundreds of other objects, believed to be stolen, have yet to be identified.

The Art and Antiques Unit will display these objects during a series of
roadshows to be held over the next couple of months in order to return them
to their rightful owners.
 
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/