US man sentenced after swapping 17th century manuscript

A California man who swapped a library's 17th century Chinese manuscript for a fake was sentenced on Wednesday after admitting to stealing a major artwork.

Jeffrey Ying used a number of aliases to get access to classic works, some over 600 years old, at the library of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Department of Justice said.

Ying, 39, would check the works out and return days later with dummy manuscripts. He would frequently travel to China shortly thereafter, officials said.

UCLA's library system flagged that several rare Chinese manuscripts were missing, and an investigation revealed the books were last viewed by a visitor who identified himself as "Alan Fujimori." 

The rare and valuable works are not in regular circulation in the library and must be reserved and checked out, officials said.

When detectives raided the Los Angeles area hotel where Ying was staying, they found blank manuscripts in the style of the books that had been checked out.

"Law enforcement also found pre-made labels known as asset tags associated with the same manuscripts that could be used to create 'dummy' books to return to the library in place of the original books," a DoJ statement said.

Ying, from Fremont, near San Francisco, was also found to have a number of library cards in different names.

Ying pleaded guilty to a single count of stealing a 17th century manuscript dating from China’s Qing dynasty.

He was sentenced Wednesday to time served, accounting for approximately one month in jail, in addition to one year of home confinement and three years of supervised release.

China is home to one of the world's fastest-growing art markets, with a booming number of state-sanctioned museums as well as a lively private market, as an increasingly wealthy and nationalistic middle class looks to claim the country's cultural heritage.

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© Agence France-Presse