British Brothers Sentenced in Swiss Museum Heist

Stewart and Louis Ahearne receive three-and-a-half year prison terms each and a five-year ban from Switzerland for stealing Ming Dynasty artefacts.

Two British brothers, Stewart and Louis Ahearne, have been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison each for their involvement in a 2019 heist at the Museum of Far Eastern Art in Geneva, Switzerland.
The brothers admitted to stealing iconic Chinese Ming Dynasty artefacts, causing an estimated 3.5m Swiss francs ($4m; £3.2m) worth of damage to the museum.
One of the stolen items, a 14th century vase, was sold at a Hong Kong auction house for £80,000, while another was recovered in London during an undercover sting operation.
The third stolen artefact, a wine cup decorated with a chicken, has not been recovered.
In addition to their prison sentences, the brothers have been banned from visiting Switzerland for five years and ordered to pay 15,000 Swiss francs ($17,400; £13,770) in damages to the Baur Foundation, which manages the Museum of Far Eastern Art.