Saliera thief facing new prosecution

Austria's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the retrial of a man who carried out Austria's most spectacular art theft — the stealing in May 2003 of a €50 million (US$65.5 million) Renaissance figurine from Vienna's prestigious Art History Museum.

Cellini's famed saltcellar is not a figurine, though a number of figurines do adorn it. The story is also in error in describing it as gold plated, for it is gold (with applied enamel, and an ebony base).

In September, a Vienna court sentenced Robert Mang, an alarm systems expert who said he stole the prized work as a prank, to four years in prison.

The court convicted Mang of the theft but acquitted him on a separate charge of attempted extortion after the court decided there was insufficient evidence to prove he allegedly threatened to destroy the prized work unless up to €10 million (US$13 million) in ransom was paid. Prosecutors appealed against the decision.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled the court had made a mistake and that Mang's alleged threat was an extortion attempt, the Austria Press Agency reported.

From the International Herald Tribune. Previous posts about the theft here, here, here, and here.

Posted by David on March 8, 2007 4:03 PM