An alleged diamond dealer from Antwerp wants to bring back looted goods from the Green Vault. But with the cash he gets for it from the museum, he runs away.
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Peter Richter
A press release issued by the Dresden public prosecutor’s office a few days ago does not make the State Art Collections look particularly happy. It’s about the attempt to get it back after the jewel robbery in the Green Vault exactly three years ago. In parts, however, the text reads more like the exposé for a feature film from the thriller genre, but maybe also tragicomedy: A 54-year-old Dutchman is being investigated on suspicion of commercial fraud, who is already well known and has a criminal record in his home country for such things . Last December, the man “contacted a Dutch art detective and pretended to be a diamond dealer from Antwerp. The breast star of the Polish Order of the White Eagle, stolen during the break-in into the Green Vault, was offered to him for sale for 40,000 euros.” Then he pretended “to want to buy the piece of jewelery from the suppliers for the purpose of returning it to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD)”.