Things are going fast for the things that art thief Douglas W. sells in his own webshop. The shop is temporarily offline, according to a text on the site because the entire collection is currently sold out. According to the message, the shop will reopen as soon as stock is available again.
Douglas W. is one of three men who were convicted for the theft of Romanian art treasures from the Drents Museum last year. The three captured the famous golden helmet of Cotofenesti and three golden bracelets. With the exception of one bracelet, all the treasures were returned two months ago, after a deal between the Public Prosecution Service and W. and his criminal companion Jan B.
And now W. appears to be making a lucrative profit from prison. His brand Book Arrest (a playful reference to the Romanian capital) supplies T-shirts, caps, shorts and hoodies with the golden helmet logo.
That puts a part of politics in the wrong direction. JA21 and the VVD asked parliamentary questions about it to Minister of Justice David van Weel and State Secretary Claudia van Bruggen. For example, they wonder whether a detainee can use the prison address as a postal address.
JA21 states that Douglas W. romanticizes his act with his webshop and asks whether it is possible to ban it. It would even seem a good idea to the party to use the proceeds from the sale so far to cover part of the legal costs.