Israeli police say they have arrested four men in the theft of Jewish religious items worth more than US$ 1 million from a synagogue in the Italian city of Milan. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Monday the four Israeli men in their twenties had been arrested over the weekend, after smuggling the stolen Judaica to Israel. He said they faced charges of theft and of trafficking in stolen goods.The stolen objects – including silver Torah crowns, rimmonim and other silver and gold objects – were all recovered.
They date back to the 17th century and have been owned by the Milanese community for centuries. Police said the four suspects – two who carried out the theft and two who received the goods in Israel – belonged to a gang that had carried out similar operations in other European synagogues. Police were tipped off by a Judaica expert in Jerusalem who was consulted on the value of the pieces by a dealer interested in buying them.
The theft was discovered on Friday morning when the local rabbi opened the ark that houses the Torah scrolls to prepare for Shabbat. According to Italian reports, the synagogue’s security camera showed two thieves taking the items from the ark earlier in the week. They apparently had gained access to the synagogue by posing as worshipers.
