A museum worker in Germany swapped a painting for a fake one and then sold the original work to buy luxury goods including a Rolls Royce and expensive wristwatches, a Munich court heard.
The 30-year-old, who remains unidentified due to strict privacy laws in Germany, was also convicted of stealing three other works of art. He was not sentenced to prison, but to 21 months of probation and ordered to pay back more than 60,600 euros to the museum.
In a press release, the Munich District Court said the sentence took into account the fact that the man had admitted and shown "genuine remorse".
The man, who was an employee of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, worked as a manager from May 2016 to April 2018.
During that time, he stole The Tale of the Frog Prince from Franz von Stuck, replaced it with a fake painting, and auctioned the original. He lied at the auction saying the painting once belonged to his grandparents or great-grandparents. It was later sold to a Swiss gallery for €70,000, of which he received €50,000.
He also stole three other paintings and successfully sold two of them. The man used the money to pay off debts and embark on a "luxurious lifestyle", the court said, adding: "The defendant brazenly took the opportunity to gain access to storage rooms and sold valuable cultural property to ensure a standard of living. high standard of living for oneself and for one's appearance."
The Deutsches Museum, meanwhile, told CNN it was trying to retrieve the paintings.
