[MSN] Insider theft. Museum head: The "Treasures of Croesus" were incomplete when I got them

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Museum head: The "Treasures of Croesus" were incomplete when I got them

Following the arrest this week of 9 people in connection with the theft of
the central piece from the "Treasures of Croesus" permanent exhibit at the
Usak Archeological Museum, the director of the Usak museum, Kazim
Akbiyikoglu, has told police that the "Treasures of Croesus" were in fact
incomplete when he received them in 1996. 

Akbiyikoglu, who is currently under arrest for allegations that he was
directly involved with the disappearence of the central artifact from the
show, the golden "Winged Sea-Horse Brooch," told investigators that he
himself brought the 363 piece exhibition back from the US in 1993, but that
he delivered it not to Usak Archeological Museum, but to the Ankara
Anatolian Civilizations Museum, where it stayed until 1996. 

The reason for the 3 year stop-over in Ankara was that the Usak
Archeological Museum was being renovated during this time period.
Akbiyikoglu told police that he had noted in 1996 that one piece was missing
from the collection when it arrived from Ankara, but that it was only in
March 2006 that he had realized that the "Winged Sea-Horse Brooch" had been
replaced by a fake. 

Akbikiyoglu has suggested to investigators that perhaps the "Winged
Sea-Horse Brooch" was in fact replaced by a fake during its stay in the US.
The "Treasures of Croesus" were kept by the New York Metropolitan Museum of
Art for a decade or so, after having been dug up illegally in Turkey by
villagers, who, realizing the price of the artifacts on the world market,
made several sales to foreign art dealers. Turkey finally received the
exhibition back from the Metropolitan Museum after a court case which took
years and cost millions of dollars. 

 
Related News 
 In pictures: Treasures of Croesus:
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/4514848.asp?gid=74#
 

www.hurriyetkurumsal.com