Four members of an organized crime group in Georgia have been arrested on charges of stealing expensive books from libraries in EU countries.
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The General Prosecutor's Office reported that a French book published in the 19th century, allegedly stolen from the Paris National Library, was found in the residence of one of the detainees.
The detection of the criminal network was also announced by Eurojust, the cooperation body of the European Union countries in the field of criminal law. The press release states that:
“An organized crime group (OCG) that allegedly stole 170 books of high historical and cultural value across several European countries. The stolen books have an estimated value of EUR 2.5 million and were written by well-known Russian novelists such as Pushkin, Gogol and Lermontov.”
Eurojust notes that criminals of Georgian origin robbed libraries in France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Switzerland.
The Georgian Prosecutor's Office has reported that the investigation established that Georgian citizens created an organized criminal group at the beginning of 2022. They aimed to covertly acquire expensive books of various 19th-century authors throughout Europe for further sale. The case file indicates they used fake IDs, fictitious names, and pre-made fake book samples to replace the originals.
“Per a pre-planned criminal scheme, members of the organized group were to borrow books by 19th-century classic writers from national and university libraries in France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Switzerland, Poland, and the Czech Republic. They would secretly acquire the originals and then replace them with high-quality copies.
Following the aforementioned criminal scheme, members of the organized group secretly removed hundreds of thousands of euros worth of books from libraries in various European cities in 2022-23," stated the General Prosecutor's Office.
The individuals arrested were charged under paragraphs "a" and "b" of Article 177, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (theft committed by an organized group and in a large amount). If convicted, they could face 6 to 10 years in prison.
The investigation into the case is ongoing.
Information about the theft of valuable books from libraries in European countries has been circulating in foreign media since last year.
