Two Poles, a Hungarian and a German antique dealer were sentenced on Friday to terms ranging from 15 months to five years in prison by the court of Béziers (Hérault) in the context of a vast trafficking in old geographical maps stolen from libraries.
The main defendant, a 58-year-old Pole already known and convicted for the same facts in 2015, entered public libraries and cut high-value cards with a cutter from old books.
In all, 82 geographical maps from the 15th and 16th centuries were stolen.
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For these 52 thefts committed in Clermont-Ferrand, Le Mans (western France), Auxerre, Avignon, Limoges and Montpellier, the man living in Cessenon-sur-Orb (Hérault), was sentenced to five years in prison.
His accomplice, a 52-year-old Pole who laundered money by buying cars that he then sold in Spain, was sentenced to three years in prison.
An accomplice convicted of concealment
A second accomplice residing in Agde (Hérault), aged 56 and of Hungarian nationality, provided telephone cards but did not take part in the thefts.
He was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
A three-year suspended sentence was finally pronounced against a 38-year-old German antique dealer who was being prosecuted for concealment.
His family has been in the business of antique maps and books for more than 100 years in Berlin.
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Some old maps in very good condition can sell for up to 150,000 euros, he explained at the hearing.
All of the convicts will also have to jointly reimburse 50,000 euros to the Clermont-Ferrand library, the others having not compiled a file for a request for compensation.