A relics conservation official was sentenced to death...

A relics conservation official was sentenced to death in what state media described as the largest antiquities theft case since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.
Li Haitao, former chief of security for relics from a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) imperial estate in the northern province of Hebei, stole 259 protected items, some of which were national treasures, and pocketed gains of more than US$458,000.
Li stole the relics, which were under his care during his tenure at the relics office from 1992 to 2002, by falsifying archive documents and switching them with inferior pieces.