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A decide has ordered a former curator who the British Museum says stole lots of of artifacts to return any gems or jewellery from the establishment which might be in his possession.
The museum claims that the previous curator, Peter Higgs, who as soon as ran the museum’s Greek and Roman antiquities division, stole or broken over 1,800 artifacts from its collections and bought lots of of these objects on eBay, in response to courtroom paperwork.
Officers additionally need Mr. Higgs to elucidate the whereabouts of different artifacts that they are saying the previous curator bought on-line. The courtroom paperwork state that Mr. Higgs disputes the accusations towards him.
At a Excessive Courtroom listening to in London, the presiding decide, Heather Williams, ordered Mr. Higgs to return any objects inside 4 weeks. Decide Williams additionally ordered PayPal, the web funds firm, to reveal information referring to Mr. Higgs’s eBay accounts, together with his transaction historical past.
The lacking museum objects embody engraved gems and jewellery, a few of that are 1000’s of years outdated.
On Tuesday, Mr. Higgs and his household didn’t reply to emails and social media messages from The Occasions. In courtroom papers, the museum’s attorneys stated the curator was “affected by extreme psychological pressure” and was “unable to reply successfully to the proceedings.”
For the reason that museum introduced the thefts in August, it has solely recovered round 350 of the lacking artifacts.
The London police are investigating, however a spokeswoman for the drive stated in an e-mail on Wednesday that it had not charged anybody in reference to the lacking artifacts.
The museum stated in courtroom paperwork that it had “compelling proof” that between 2009 and 2018, Mr. Higgs “abused his place of belief throughout the museum” to take artifacts, together with objects that the museum hadn’t absolutely registered in its catalog. Mr. Higgs then bought a lot of them on eBay to at the least 45 completely different patrons, the museum says. These patrons allegedly embody individuals from america and Denmark.
Within the submitting, the museum additionally accuses the previous curator of making an attempt to cowl up the thefts by altering the museum’s digital catalog, together with altering descriptions of lacking objects.
Though British newspapers had lengthy reported that Mr. Higgs was the curator on the heart of the scandal, Tuesday’s listening to was the primary time that the museum had named him.
When the museum fired Mr. Higgs for gross misconduct in July, he had been working there for over 30 years. In 2021, the museum promoted Mr. Higgs to performing keeper of its Greek and Roman division — an vital place overseeing among the museum’s most treasured artifacts, together with the disputed Parthenon Marbles.
Mr. Higgs curated a number of blockbuster British Museum reveals, together with a 2016 exhibition on Sicilian historical past. One other of his exhibitions, “Historic Greeks: Athletes Warriors and Heroes,” toured to Australia and China.
The museum’s authorized workforce advised the courtroom that the establishment was attempting to compel Mr. Higgs to provide particulars in regards to the objects it says he stole as a result of there was a danger they may quickly “grow to be irrecoverable.”
“As long as the objects are at giant, restoration of the stolen objects turns into harder as objects are bought and resold, doubtlessly throughout borders,” the museum’s attorneys advised the courtroom. “The earlier the museum is ready to contact different patrons,” it provides, “the extra probably it’s that additional property can be recovered.”
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