Stolen Dutch masterpieces held for ransom by far-right Ukrainian militants with links to government
A collection of Dutch 17th century art stolen a decade ago was found in a villa in east Ukraine and offered for sale by a far-right militia, a museum has claimed.
The 24 paintings and silver artefacts were valued at €10m ($10.8m; £7m) when they were stolen from the Welfries Museum in Hoorn a decade ago. Two art detectives hired by the museum claim they were offered for sale for €5m by a member of a far-right militant with alleged ties to an MP and former senior security official.
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"There are very strong signs that the paintings are now being offered to other parties or have even been sold," Geerdink said. "Given the paintings' fragile condition, it is already one minute to midnight, or even one past midnight."
Art detective Alex Omhoff told IBTimes UK: "All efforts to get the paintings back were made. Dutch politicians were involved. Our foreign minister asked the Ukrainian president for help and we tried by negotiating with these people to get the art back, but unfortunately money is more important to them than historically important pieces of art."
-----> http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/stolen-dutch-masterpieces-offered-sale-by-ukrainian-far-right-militia-1532191
Among the pieces stolen in the 2005 heist was Jan Claesz Schilderij's
Rietschoof, Gezicht op het Oostereiland - Westfries museum
