UK brothers jailed for stealing millions in Ming Dynasty artifacts from Swiss museum

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• Two British brothers have been sentenced to prison for breaking into a Swiss museum and stealing Chinese Ming Dynasty artifacts worth millions.
• The stolen items, two Ming Dynasty vases and a cup, valued at around $3.8 million, were stolen from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva in 2019.
• The Metropolitan Police and Swiss authorities conducted an investigation that led to the identification of the brothers through DNA.

Two British brothers who broke into a Geneva museum and stole millions of dollars worth of Chinese Ming Dynasty artifacts were sentenced to prison in Switzerland, police said Wednesday.

The Metropolitan Police said Louis and Stewart Ahearne were each sentenced Tuesday to 3 1/2 years in a Swiss prison following an investigation by U.K. and Swiss authorities.

Police said two Ming Dynasty vases and a cup were stolen in 2019 from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva. The 15th-century artifacts were valued at around $3.8 million.

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Authorities shared DNA found at the scene on an international database which linked it to Stewart Ahearne, who was living in southeast London. He had hired a car ahead of the theft and used it to drive the stolen goods back to the U.K., police said.

The jewel-encrusted gold belt ornaments of the Ming Dynasty is seen at Jiangnan Watertown Culture Museum in Hangzhou, China, on Feb. 19, 2023. Two British brothers who broke into a Swiss museum and stole millions of dollars worth of similar artifacts have been sentenced to prison. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Detectives posing as art buyers then arranged to meet the suspects in a London hotel to “buy” a vase for $570,000. The Ahearnes were arrested after the undercover operation and extradited to Switzerland, where they pleaded guilty on Monday.

“The Ahearne brothers meticulously planned this burglary, carrying out careful reconnaissance to ensure they could make a clean getaway and bring the items back to the U.K.,” said detective chief inspector Matt Webb.

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Three other men involved in the attempted sale of one of the stolen vases were separately sentenced for possession of criminal property.

Police said a Ming Dynasty wine cup featuring paintings of chickens remains missing.