British Museum staff member stole 300 pieces of art before being caught red-handed

"A former British Museum staff member stole over 300 pieces of art, selling them at an antiques market, before being caught red-handed, a new book has revealed. Nigel Peverett, who worked at the museum's Department of Prints and Drawings in the early 1970s, had remained a frequent visitor to the museum until one day in April 1992, when he was caught leaving it with 35 prints worth around 5,000."

"Peverett had taken the antique artworks sometimes going into the British Museum with one bag and coming out with four and using a razor, had scraped off the museum catalogue numbers, or cut them down in size, before selling them through a dealer who sold them at his stall at Portobello Road antiques market."

Nigel Peverett, who worked at the British Museum's Department of Prints and Drawings in the early 1970s, conducted a systematic theft operation spanning decades. In April 1992, he was caught leaving the museum with 35 prints worth approximately 5,000 pounds. Police searches of his Kent cottage uncovered 169 additional prints valued at 27,000 pounds. Peverett confessed to stealing 150 more prints that he had already sold. His method involved entering the museum with one bag and exiting with multiple bags, using a razor to remove or reduce museum catalogue numbers before selling the artworks through a dealer at Portobello Road antiques market. The theft story is documented in Barnaby Phillips' book about stolen treasure.

Read at www.independent.co.uk