Man Charged with Stealing Art in Paris, Trying to Sell it in NY

NEW YORK—An Israeli man arrested last month in Paris was charged Thursday with stealing more than $1 million of art in Paris and attempting to sell it in New York, the Associated Press reports. Solly Sinai was arrested on a warrant that was unsealed Thursday, stemming from a six-count indictment handed up in U.S. District Court in Manhattan in May 2005. The indictment accused Sinai of attempting to sell items stolen in three separate incidents in Paris beginning in spring 1997. The artworks included 200 Japanese antique miniature sculptures, Napoleonic-era pistols valued at about $500,000, a decorative antique silver bowl, and 104 bronze sculptures. A release by prosecutors said Sinai, who was charged with two counts of interstate transportation of stolen property and four counts of receipt and sale of stolen property, is being held by French authorities while the United States prepares to extradite him for trial.