Overview

• Tourism Minister Sherif Fathy said the 3,000-year-old bracelet was taken on September 9 while staff prepared items for an exhibition in Italy.
• Investigators say a restoration specialist passed the piece to a silver shop owner in Cairo’s Sayyeda Zainab district, after which it was resold for about $3,800 and then around $4,000 before being melted down.
• Four suspects were arrested, authorities say they confessed and the proceeds were seized, and security video was released showing a shop owner weighing a bracelet and paying a suspect.
• Local media reported a judge ordered the restoration specialist and an acquaintance held for 15 more days pending investigation, and set bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds each for two others.
• The ministry referred the case to the Public Prosecution, circulated the bracelet’s image to antiquities units at borders, and formed a committee to inventory the lab as experts urge pausing overseas loans until controls are strengthened.