[MSN] INSIDER THEFT. Jakarta, Indonesia (AHN) - Five antique statues reported to have been stolen by a curator from a museum in Central Java, Indonesia had found their way back to the country's oldest museum.

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Stolen Javanese Antiques Find Their Way Back to Indonesia's Oldest Museum
November 22, 2007 9:56 a.m. EST 
 
Einnor Mendoza - AHN News Writer

Jakarta, Indonesia (AHN) - Five antique statues reported to have been stolen
by a curator from a museum in Central Java, Indonesia had found their way
back to the country's oldest museum. 

The returned pieces replace the fake ones or replicas currently displayed
there. 

BBC News reported four other pieces - three bronze statues and a porcelain
plate -- remain missing from the museum, state investigators said. 

Found in Jakarta capital, the statues - dating from as early as 7th to 9th
centuries -- were returned to the museum in Surakarta city. 

Meanwhile, Surakarta Police spokesman Col. Syahroni said authorities had
apprehended three suspects - all museum staff members - have been arrested
for their alleged participation in the fraud, The Jakarta Post reported. 

The whistle blower on the alleged theft of the items was a female former
museum employee. 

For the past six years, pieces at the museum had not been inventoried. The
state archeology body admits the possibility of many other items as missing.


The suspects reportedly sold the antique to a local businessman at prices
ranging from $3,500 and $10,000, The Jakarta Post added.