AUSTRIAN CROWN JEWELS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 8 June 1923, Page 5

AUSTRIAN CROWN JEWELS.

ALLEGED ROBBERY

BY CABLE—PEESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT PARIS, June 6.

It is alleged Baron yon Steiner was «mpowered to pledge the Austrian Imperial crown and other jewels for the purpose of obtaining a loan for the ex-Emperor Karl. Instead he sold the jewels outright- for a sum far below their value. The jewels are stated to h eworth. over £300,000 and were allegedly sold to a syndicate of international jewellers for £25,500. It is asserted that an historic Marie Antoinette necklace was sold eventually to an English purchaser for about £70,000, thrice the amount which the syndicate ~paid for the whole collection.

'The Arch Duke Max accuses Steiner of defrauding the Imperial family of a ■quarter of a million francs from the sales. It is suggested Steiner's arrest ■will lead to the disclosure of the names of others implicated, who are now living in Switzerland and elsewhere.