Four months after the British Museum fired a curator suspected of stealing gems, jewellery and semiprecious stones, the London establishment on Tuesday launched additional details about the destiny of the lacking gadgets.
Officials assume that round 1,500 artifacts have been stolen or are in any other case lacking from its Greek and Roman shops, the museum mentioned in a news launch. Another 350 gadgets have been broken, the assertion added, together with by gold having been eliminated. Those gold components have been “likely to be unrecoverable,” the museum mentioned, and have been most likely offered to scrap metallic retailers.
Another 140 gadgets that stay within the museum’s possession “have been damaged by tool marks,” the news launch added.
Of the lacking 1,500 gadgets, simply over 350 had been returned, a British Museum spokeswoman mentioned in an interview. Another 300 gadgets had been recognized, however these gadgets had not been recovered.
The spokeswoman mentioned that every one the returned gadgets had come from Ittai Gradel, a uncommon gem seller who, in 2021, first alerted the British Museum to the losses, solely to have his issues rebuffed. Previously, Gradel had purchased among the gadgets earlier than realizing they belonged to the museum.
The spokeswoman mentioned that the museum estimates the thief solely made round 100,000 kilos, or $125,000, promoting the artifacts through web sites together with eBay, based mostly on the gadgets’ listings. Further particulars of the lacking gadgets couldn’t be launched due to an ongoing police investigation, she added.
The British Museum has given common updates on its investigation because it introduced the thefts in August. In October, George Osborne, the museum’s chair, and Mark Jones, the museum’s interim director, unveiled a $12-million, five-year venture to enhance the British Museum’s report retaining.
On Tuesday, the museum additionally launched some particulars of an impartial evaluation into the thefts, by Mark Boardman, a senior lawyer; Ian Karet, a British decide; and Lucy D’Orsi, a police official.
The evaluation’s most important suggestions for the way the museum can enhance its safety weren’t made public, however the British Museum printed 36 different solutions on its web site. Those cowl enhancements to the museum’s insurance policies and administration procedures, together with extra frequent stock checks.
Osborne, who declined an interview request, mentioned within the news launch that he had accepted all of the evaluation’s suggestions. The British Museum was “putting our own house in order,” he added.
Source: www.nytimes.com