- Two British brothers have been sentenced to prison for breaking into a Swiss museum and stealing Ming dynasty Chinese artifacts worth millions.
- The stolen items, two vases and a cup from the Ming Dynasty, valued at around $3.8 million, were stolen from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva in 2019.
- The Metropolitan Police and Swiss authorities carried out an investigation which led to the identification of the brothers using DNA.
Two British brothers who broke into a Geneva museum and stole millions of dollars worth of Chinese artifacts from the Ming dynasty have been sentenced to prison in Switzerland, police said Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police said Louis and Stewart Ahearne were sentenced on Tuesday to three and a half years in a Swiss prison following an investigation by UK and Swiss authorities.
Police said two Ming dynasty vases and a cup were stolen from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva in 2019. The 15th century artifacts were valued at around $3.8 million.
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Authorities shared DNA found at the scene in an international database linking him to Stewart Ahearne, who lived in southeast London. He had rented a car before the robbery and used it to take the stolen goods back to the UK, police said.
Jewel-encrusted gold belt ornaments from the Ming Dynasty are seen at the Jiangnan Watertown Cultural Museum in Hangzhou, China, Feb. 19, 2023. Two British brothers who broke into a Swiss museum and stole similar artifacts worth millions of dollars have been sentenced to prison. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Detectives posing as art buyers agreed to meet the suspects at a London hotel to “purchase” a vase for $570,000. The Ahearnes were arrested following the sting operation and extradited to Switzerland, where they pleaded guilty on Monday.
“The Ahearne brothers meticulously planned this robbery, carrying out careful reconnaissance to ensure they made a clean escape and brought the items back to the UK,” Detective Chief Inspector Matt Webb said.
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Three other men involved in the attempted sale of one of the stolen vases were sentenced separately for possession of criminal property.
Police said a Ming Dynasty wine glass with paintings of chickens is still missing.
