Police fear $1.4bn artwork ruined
europe.cnn.com
May 18, 2002 Posted: 0721 GMT
STRASBOURG, France -- Investigators fear part of a $1.4 billion collection of alleged stolen artwork has been destroyed by the suspect's mother.
Mireille Breitwieser 51, is being held for questioning by Swiss police after paintings were found cut to shreds in the suspect's bedroom, Pascal Schultz, a prosecutor in the eastern city of Strasbourg, said.
Police are also draining part of a Swiss canal, near the French border, for the second time after reports that pieces of artwork have been seen floating on the surface.
Stolen items include mainly 17th and 18th century treasures such as paintings by Antoine Watteau, Peter Bruegel and Francois Boucher as well as sculptures, silver and dishes.
Among works suspected of being destroyed were a red chalk drawing by Watteau "Les Deux Hommes," stolen in 1999 from the Montpellier Museum; Boucher's "Patre Endormi," stolen in August 1996 from the Blois Museum, and Bruegel's "La Fraud Profite a Son Maitre," stolen in May 1997 in Anvers.
The 31-year-old suspect Stephane Breitwieser has been detained by Swiss police since last November on an international arrest warrant issued by the French, Rolf Koch, spokesman for the Lucerne police, told The Associated Press on Friday.
More than 172 art objects and paintings from museums and galleries around Europe are feared to have been taken in a six year spree.
Alexandra Smith, an official at the London-based Art Loss Register, which is helping police in the investigation, estimates the total value to be $1.4 billion.
Breitwieser's companion is being held along with his mother.
The companion is suspected of having accompanied Breitwieser on numerous expeditions, serving as a lookout, the prosecutor said.
Folco Galli, spokesman for the Federal Justice Ministry in Switzerland, said French officials have asked for Swiss assistance and that Breitwieser had been questioned in the presence of French police.
Most of the alleged thefts took place in France and Switzerland, but others were reported in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria.
The Rhone au Rhin canal, 60 miles from the Breitwieser home in Eschentzwiller, a town beside the Swiss border, was first drained for items last autumn.
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