Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Stolen Books Recovered in Toronto

Several books stolen from the Antiquariat Burgverlag shop in Vienna back in October 2007 have been found in Toronto, the Globe and Mail reports. Two male suspects were questioned last week after they attempted to sell the stolen books to D & E Lake. The suspects emailed the Lakes last month offering four books for sale; the Lakes called authorities and arranged a sting operation. On 2 October, police captured one suspect at the Lakes' shop; the other suspect was apprehended later. "Neil Madill, an investigator on the case described the two would-be sellers, who he refused to name, as 'incredibly naive' and 'stooges' and also heretofore unknown to police. In fact, it's possible, 'pending further investigation with the German [presumably he means Austrian] police,' that neither one will face criminal charges."

Several of the other works stolen from the Vienna shop were recovered earlier in Europe, and the trial of the alleged thief, Helge Braun, began this week in Vienna.