MOSCOW, July 14 (RAPSI) – A court in Bucharest on Monday ruled that the four thieves who were convicted of stealing paintings from a museum in Rotterdam, Holland, are to pay 18.1 million euros in damages, AFP writes on Monday.
In October 2012, thieves stole seven oil paintings and watercolors from the Kunsthal Museum, including Picasso’s 1971 Harlequin Head; Matisse’s 1919 Reading Girl in White and Yellow; Paul Gauguin’s 1898 Girl in Front of Open Window; Monet’s 1901 Waterloo Bridge, London and Charing Cross Bridge, London; Meyer de Haan’s Self-Portrait, around 1890; and Lucian Freud’s 2002 Woman With Eyes Closed.
None of the stolen paintings have been found. On Monday, the court ruled for the paintings’ insurers in a EUR 18.1 million lawsuit against four of the suspects – Radu Dogaru, his mother Olga, Eugen Darie and Adrian Procop.
Their lawyer said they would appeal the ruling and that responsibility for the theft rested solely with the museum, which exhibited the paintings without taking proper security measures. There were no night guards on the premises, and security was monitored offsite by a private company.
The attorney also said that no credible evidence had been provided to indicate that the stolen paintings were originals.
During the criminal trial, the Dogarus, mother and son, and their accomplices were given different sentences. The seven paintings were valued at 18 million euros ($24.6 million).