Cashier Swindles Museum out of $1.1M

In a surprising turn of events, a woman employed at Switzerland’s most popular art museum has been revealed as a mastermind scammer. According to the New York Times, the 54-year-old has been found guilty of stealing over $1.1 million from the Beyeler Foundation museum near Basel between 2008 and 2019. Authorities have uncovered that the cashier implemented various tactics to skim money from ticket sales, such as selling emergency preprinted tickets and pocketing the cash. Furthermore, she managed to sell the same ticket twice by providing receipts instead of tickets, claiming technical difficulties prevented ticket printing, as reported by Artnet.

The incident that raised suspicions among her colleagues the most, resulting in an internal investigation and her termination in 2019, was when she canceled tickets issued by other workers and kept the refunds for herself. During her trial, it was revealed that she had started stealing from the museum shortly after joining in 2008, and she was even promoted to manage other cashiers in 2012. As time went on, she began stealing larger sums and indulged in a luxurious lifestyle, including extravagant vacations and multiple luxury cars.

The museum estimates that the theft amounts to approximately 1% of ticket sales during her employment. Although she didn’t directly work for the museum but was employed by a service provider, the service provider has agreed to compensate the museum. The charges against her include commercial theft, embezzlement, and forgery of documents. She has been sentenced to three years and seven months in prison, along with a $3,600 fine, and has been ordered to repay the stolen money with interest. The judge, Marcia Stucki, described her actions as displaying a “high level of criminal energy,” and her behavior in court as “insolence and indifference,” according to the Times. (Read more museum stories.)