French police foil Chinese mafia-led art heist at Palace of Fontainebleau, report says

Chinese citizen arrested on suspicion of paying Spanish crime gang US$888,000 to steal precious artefacts from royal residence

Chateau houses many works looted by French and British troops from Beijing’s Summer Palace in 1860

Reading Time:2 minutes

Five Spaniards and a Chinese have been arrested in France on suspicion of planning the theft of valuable artworks from the Palace of Fontainebleau. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:51pm, 11 Jan 2020Updated: 5:05pm, 17 Feb 2020

A Chinese man has been arrested in France on suspicion of planning the theft of valuable artworks from the Palace of Fontainebleau, which houses several pieces looted by British and French soldiers from the Summer Palace in Beijing in the 19th century.

According to a report by Spanish newspaper El País, Hu Shouyang, 45, recruited five members of a Spanish criminal gang to carry out the theft in exchange for a payment of €800,000 (US$888,600).

The group was headed by Juan Maria Gordillo Plaza – also known “Juan the Kid” for his small stature – who is well known to the Spanish justice system.

Police said the gang targeted several porcelain items from a collection of Asian art. Photo: Wikipedia

Police sources were quoted as saying the gang, which travelled from Spain to France to carry out the heist, targeted several porcelain items from a collection of Asian art put together by empress Eugenie de Montijo, the consort of the French emperor Napoleon III.

Hu is also suspected of having links to a mafia-type criminal group in China, the report said.

French police said they were alerted to the gang’s plans by their Spanish counterparts via Europol, and had been tracking them since they crossed the border on December 21, the El País report said.