A 19-year-old Romanian woman has been arrested in Rotterdam in connection with last October’s theft of seven very valuable paintings from the Kunsthal in Rotterdam.

She is being held on suspicion of possessing the paintings, including works by Matisse and Picasso, in the period after the robbery.

Police think the paintings were taken to a property in Rotterdam where the woman lived. There the paintings may have been removed from their frames, police said.

The woman is the said to be the girlfriend of a 28-year-old Romanian arrested in Romania in January. He, plus two other men aged 23 and 25, are in custody in Romania.

Raid

The seven paintings were stolen during a lightning raid on the gallery in October last year. The total value of the haul was put by some experts at up to €100m.

This weekend, there were reports from Romania that two of the paintings may have been burned.

The mother of one of the main suspects told local broadcaster Antena3 she had destroyed the paintings to help her son. Rotterdam police said later there is no evidence to suggest this is true.

Earlier stories
Picasso, Monet and Matisse among seven works stolen from Kunsthal