German Art Collector Wanted in the U.K. Arrested in Portugal

(Bloomberg) -- A German art collector who left the U.K. ahead of trial on theft charges was arrested in Portugal, police said.

Angela Gulbenkian, who’s facing two charges of theft including one relating to the $1.4 million sale of a pumpkin sculpture, was arrested Tuesday in Lisbon, Portugal’s prosecutor said. She is being held “in preventive detention” ahead of a extradition process.

The 38-year-old was detained after the U.K. issued a European Arrest Warrant, the prosecutor said late Wednesday. She’d failed to appear for a court hearing in February, London police said in a separate statement.

Prosecutors allege in the indictment that between April 2017 and December 2018, Gulbenkian stole $1.37 million belonging to Art Incorporated Ltd., a Hong Kong-based art brokerage. The theft related to a sale of a sculpture, the police said.

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