A COURT has begun proceedings for a crime of damage via recklessness against Villena officials after the theft of one of Europe’s biggest collections of Bronze Age gold.
Mayor Fulgencio Cerdan and the head of the city’s museum, Laura Hernandez, are among those named in the legal action.
The August 27 heist in the Alicante province city saw the theft of most of the ‘Treasure of Villena’ which consisted of 66 pieces of different materials including objects made out of 10 kilos of gold.
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Only three silver vessels, a bracelet and a large part of the cane ornaments were left behind as well as one of the four crowns that are believed to have been dropped by the thieves as they fled the museum.
Guardia Civil investigations into the robbery have so far drawn a blank.
The Association for the Defence of the Rule of Law and the Fight against Corruption (ADED) lodged a complaint for a possible crime of damage by recklessness.
Besides the Villena mayor and museum director, proceedings have also been initiated against deputy mayor, MarÃa Server, and the person in charge of security at the museum over not doing enough to protect the collection.
In a statement, ADED’s legal representative pointed out that crimes on historical heritage include damage caused by serious recklessness in museums and assets of artistic, historical or cultural value.
The complaint was made a few days after the robbery on the grounds that there was a ‘lack of protection’ of the museum’s facilities, which are owned by Villena City Council.
ADED claims that this is the responsibility of municipal and other officials who should have done a better job in looking after the ‘Treasure of Villena’.
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