Two academics at the University of Catania have been arrested on charges of being part of an international gang trafficking in Greek, Etruscan and Roman archeological treasures. Giacomo Manganaro, professor of ancient history, and Salvo Di Bella, professor of geographical economics in the faculty of political science, have been charged with criminal complicity and receiving stolen property.
The six-month investigation concerns ancient objets d'art worth Pounds 370 million, including the "Phiale," a Greek goblet sold to the New York Metropolitan for over Pounds 350,000 and now claimed by the Italian government.