Romanian man snuck into Drents Museum days before treasures were stolen
Five days before the high-profile theft of golden Romanian treasures from the Drents Museum in Assen, a Romanian man sneaked into the museum without a ticket and examined the exhibit the stolen treasures formed part of, RTL Nieuws reports based on the criminal file. This man, Andrei B., allegedly has ties to a gang that can be hired for art thefts, according to the broadcaster.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) designated B. as a suspect in the heist in January, the criminal file shows. The authorities suspected that he conducted a preliminary reconnaissance for the thieves.
According to the criminal file, Andrei B. walked into the museum in Assen without a ticket on the morning of January 20th. He went into the exhibition wing holding the Dacia exhibit and browsed various objects before security noticed him and escorted him out.
The police questioned him on January 28th, initially as a witness. B. said that he did not know he was walking into a museum but thought it was a Dacia car dealership. He only realized his mistake when he stumbled upon the exhibit.
B. was designated as a suspect after Romanian law enforcement revealed that he had ties to a restaurant owner in Germany who they believe coordinates “a team of thieves who steal art objects on assignment.” According to the Romanian authorities, B. “regularly visited” this owner of two Italian restaurants in southern Germany.
But sources told RTL that the investigation into B. led nowhere. The man is not in custody and is not one of the three suspects scheduled to appear in a preliminary hearing in court on Thursday.
The theft of the Romanian treasures happened during the early hours of January 25. The robbers used a fireworks bomb and sledgehammers to break into the Drents Museum in Assen. They reportedly smashed two display cases and made off with the helmet of Cotofenesti and three golden bracelets.
On Thursday, the three remaining suspects in this heist, Bernhard Z. (35), Douglas W. (36), and Jan B. (21), will appear in the Assen court for their first pre-trial hearing. All three suspects are from Heerhugowaard
The Dutch police have pulled out all the stops to recover the Romanian treasures, even deploying an undercover cop to try and get information about their whereabouts from the youngest suspect, Jan B. But it was to no avail. The valuable art pieces, dating back over 2,500 years, are still missing, though the police believe they are still intact. The Dutch government expects to pay €5.7 million in insurance money for the stolen treasures.
