A gang of Georgians stole rare Russian-language books from the EU and sold them at auctions

Nine Georgian citizens were detained in several European Union countries on suspicion of stealing antique and rare books, primarily by Russian authors or written in Russian.

As European Pravda writes, Europol reported this on April 25.

In 2022 and 2023, the criminal group managed to steal rare books from national and historical libraries in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France and Switzerland.

The group members visited libraries and inquired about antiquarian books, for example, for scientific purposes, after which they carefully measured and photographed them. A few days later, the attackers came to the library, where they replaced the originals with copies.

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In some cases, the criminal group “relyed on a more brutal approach and simply broke into libraries,” Europol said.

In total, the attackers are believed to be involved in the theft of at least 170 books, which caused damage amounting to about 2.5 million euros and “immeasurable spiritual loss.” Some of the stolen books were sold through auction houses in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Three suspects were arrested in Estonia, France and Lithuania, and two more suspects were under judicial supervision in France. Ultimately, four more Georgian citizens were detained during the latest operation in Georgia and Latvia.

In addition to arresting the suspects, law enforcement officers seized more than 150 books to determine their origin. One of the books that the criminals stole in France has already been returned.

The media previously drew attention to the fact that over the past two years in Poland, Lithuania and other Baltic countries stole Russian and Russian-language literature XIX century worth millions of euros, replacing the originals on library shelves with fakes.

Recently, US President Joe Biden ridiculed his future rival in the presidential election, Donald Trump, who started selling Bibles last month.

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