Élysée Palace, official residence of the French presidency
The Elysee Palace employee is accused of reselling hundreds of objects stolen from the presidential collection on the internet. Among the pieces were Baccarat champagne glasses and Sèvres porcelain plates.
A butler at the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French Presidency, was arrested for stealing pieces of silver and tableware valued at thousands of euros, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office reported this Monday.
Nearly 100 itemsincluding Baccarat champagne glasses and Sèvres porcelain plates, which had been reported as missing from the presidential collection, were later found in the personal closet, in the car and in the residence of the official, identified as Thomas M.
The employee will go to trial together with two other peopleaccused of complicity in the theft and sale of the pieces. Authorities said they had located some of these items, valued between 15 thousand and 40 thousand eurosin your account on the used objects selling platform — which seems to be a popular place for .
Sèvres, which supplied most of the pieces to the Palace, identified several of the missing items in online auction sites. The interrogation of the Eliseu team led the investigators to suspect the butlerwhose inventory records indicated he might be planning future thefts.
Investigators were however able to determine that Thomas M. maintained a relationship with the manager of a company specializing in sales online, especially tableware.
In his Vinted account, a plate with the inscription “French Air Force” and several ashtrays engraved with “Sèvres Manufacture” were also found, pieces that are not available to the public in general, note a.
They were also recovered copper pans and a figurine by René Lalique, a celebrated French master glassmaker, goldsmith and jeweler.
Two of the suspects were arrested last Tuesday. Authorities also identified a sole recipient of stolen goods. The recovered objects were returned to the Élysée Palace.
The three defendants appeared in court on Thursday, accused of joint theft of movable property classified as national heritage — crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 150 thousand euros — in addition to aggravated reception.
The trial was scheduled for February 26. The defendants were placed under judicial control, being prohibited from contacting each other, participating in auctions and carrying out their respective professional activities.
The case was solved a few months after the , also in Paris, which resulted in the theft of jewelry valued at 88 million euros.
