News about Peter Higgs

The FBI is investigating the sale to US buyers of hundreds of treasures suspected of being looted from the British Museum. The BBC spoke to an antiquities buyer in New Orleans who revealed a FBI investigator had contacted him regarding two pieces he had bought from an eBay trader using the name sultan1966. The agent said he was assisting the Metropolitan Police. Last year, a senior curator in the museum's Greece and Rome department, Dr Peter Higgs, was sacked after an investigation found 1,500 items in its collection had been stolen or damaged. The Museum believes he has stolen, damaged, melted down or sold the items on - pocketing around £100,000 in the process - and is bringing a civil case against him. According to court documents seem by the BBC, it believes he was stealing items for at least a decade, selling mostly unregistered items from the museum's storerooms. Dr Higgs, 56, from Hastings, East Sussex, denies the allegations.

The shocking revelation that objects had been stolen or missing from the world famous museum led to the resignation of the then director Hartwig Fischer (pictured top left) in August 2023. Meanwhile, legal proceedings began in March against former curator, Dr Peter Higgs (pictured top right), over items which allegedly were damaged or went missing under his watch. On Friday the museum announced that a total of 626 items, out of around 1,500 missing or stolen objects, had been found and returned to London. These precious objects were found across the world including as far away as North America. A last update from the museum in February stated that more than 350 artefacts had been returned after the objects, which included classical Greek and Roman gems and jewelry, were taken.

Brian Cox (right) has led tributes to 'visionary' Nobel Prize-winning physicist Professor Peter Higgs (left) who predicted the Higgs boson 'God particle' - after his death aged 94. Peter Higgs was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013 for his work that led to the discovery of the subatomic particle - which bears his name, explaining why particles have mass. TV scientist Professor Brian Cox led tributes to the great physicist, writing on X/Twitter this evening: 'Very sorry to hear Peter Higgs has died.

The British Museum has taken legal proceedings against a former curator who allegedly stole 1,800 gems and treasures from eBay over a decade. The museum requested that the High Court order eBay and Paypal records be released from Dr. Peter Higgs' (pictured) account, indicating that they will have proof of the items being sold. The court heard Dr Higgs was selling 'false names' and'manipulating records' for over ten years to 45 customers around the globe.' The museum's lawyers have argued that the alleged stolen items were obtained from unregistered collections held in storage. However, an investigation conducted last year found that 80% of the items from the collection were missing from the same shoproom.

The funds raised by the petrochemicals company will help finance the rehabilitation of the institution's iconic Bloomsbury site in central London. However, the arrangement is likely to be contentious for critics who have long opposed the Museum's long-term support for the collection's relationship with BP. Emma Thompson has been one of those who have called on the British Museum to withdraw BP as a sponsor, while eco-activists have occupied the museum's large court in protest. When it was predicted that the relationship was going to end in June, there was a lot of rumors, but today's rumors were denied.

The British Museum is requesting that the public help retrieve thousands of missing items that were allegedly stolen from the museum's collection. Last month, it was revealed that a member of staff, later revealed to be former curator Peter Higgs (pictured right), had been fired in connection with the missing items, and the British Museum is taking legal action. The museum published images of ancient Greek and Roman gems and jewelry on today, urging people with details on their whereabouts to contact us. 60 items have been returned, with a further 300 identified and scheduled to be returned shortly,' the museum said in a tweet.'

The British Museum curator who had been fired after 2,000 artefacts went missing have resurfaced, unlike the vanished treasures. Peter Higgs, a world-renowned Ancient Greece and Rome expert, has kept a low profile after losing his job in July after the scandal engulfed the world-renowned museum. However, the Mail caught him on camera outside his modest £550,000 period semi in Hastings, East Sussex, this weekend.

After Hartwig Fischer resigned from the post following the lool theft of more than 2,000 historical artefacts, Sir Mark Jones, 72, has been named interim director of the British Museum. The museum has been put into doubt after it was revealed that Peter Higgs, the museum's senior curator and artefacts expert, had allegedly stolen valuable objects over the years.

According to a police report, an inside job was going on under the noses of security agents for at least two decades. Jonathan Williams, Fischer's deputy, was first shown by a whistleblower with details of a serial robber operating in the museum's midst in February 2021. Dr. Ittai Gradel (right), a respected British-Danish antiquities dealer, grew up a bit as a result of his fear of being 'fobbed off,' when he emailed a trustee with his dissatisfaction. Curator Peter Higgs, 56, 56 (left), who was out on his sword last night.

BREAK: Following a week in which a curator resigned after finding items missing, the director of the British Museum resigned 'with immediate effect.' Dr. Hartwig Fischer has announced that he will resign from his position with immediate effect. Dr. Jonathan Williams, the director's deputy, was chastised after whistleblower Dr. Ittai Gradel admitted he had contacted them about suspected fraud in February 2021. The museum has since fired curator Peter Higgs (right). Fischer maintained that the museum had raised doubts two years ago and that Dr Gradel had not disclosed enough details in his tweet earlier this week. However, Dr Fischer said today, "It's evident that the British Museum did not respond as firmly as it should have."

After being told of missing items at the British Museum, a man was interviewed by Metropolitan Police officers. Last week, the London institution reported that the police is looking into items that are missing, stolen, or damaged from its collection. A man was interviewed by police officers, according to a tweet on Thursday.' There have been no arrests since. We've worked closely with the British Museum and will continue to do so.' Peter Higgs (pictured) was fired by the museum last week, though Danish art dealer Dr. Ittai Gardel (inset) claims he approached the museum's directors with proof of items being sold on eBay (right) in February 2021.

The museum's chief, a Danish art collector who discovered a thief on eBay, has blasted the museum's director as a 'idiot' who 'lives in cloud cuckoo land.' Dr. Ittai Gradel (inset) and the museum's chief Dr. Hartwig Fischer and deputy director Dr Jonathan Williams handed over evidence in February 2021. The eBay's name was sultan1966, the same name as the museum's curators', Dr. Peter Higgs (pictured top). Peter Higgs' Paypal account was also linked to a bank account. Despite this, Dr. Gradel believes that both Dr. Fischer and Dr Williams dismissed his suspicions, who found that there were no robbery.

After a string of robberies, Tim Loughton, chairman of the British Museum All-Party Parliamentary Group, accused Greece of "blatant hypocrisy" for stating that the British Museum is 'not safe.' Since finding out last week that up to 2,000 precious items were stolen and sold online or damaged, the museum is still dealing with the tragic fallout. The Elgin Marbles have been longed for in Greece. Despina Koutsoumba, the Association of Greek Archaeologists' chief, expressed concern with how many Greek items were missing, according to her coworkers. "We want to tell the British Museum that Greek culture heritage is more protected in the British Museum," she told the BBC. It is evident that it is very safe in Greece, not in the British Museum.'

According to a report, over 2,000 works from the British Museum (left) are believed to have been stolen or destroyed by just one robber, it has been reported tonight. The alleged criminal, who is said to have been lootying the museum for years, may have stolen millions of pounds worth of equipment without being recognized. Following an internal investigation into Peter Higgs (right), the curator of Mediterranean cultures who was fired this summer, the museum's staff were said to have been shocked. He denies any wrongdoing. The world-famous museum has declined to reveal how many items have gone missing, but the Telegraph has reported that the real number is likely to be over 1,000 and 'closer to 2,000.' After calling in the police in January this year, it was revealed yesterday that the British Museum obscured the missing items from the public for eight months.

Despite reporting to Scotland Yard in early January that jewelry, gemstones, and precious metals dating more than 3,000 years have mysteriously disappeared from the museum's vaults, it took until last week for the public to be told. In July, Peter Higgs, the British Museum's Mediterranean cultures curator and a world-renowned authority on ancient Greece, was fired after the items worth tens of millions of pounds went missing for a number of years. The 56-year-old had been with the London corporation for 30 years and denies any wrongdoing, but his employers have declined to state on the grounds that he was dismissed.

Hartwig Fischer, who has been in the role for seven years, announced last month that he would leave in 2024. Staff have a growing belief that his decision was owing to the removal of valuable items from the museum. Treasures worth up to £50,000 were listed on eBay for £40 this week, according to this week. In July, Peter Higgs (left), 56, a curator of Greek collections, was fired after an internal probe into the missing items. Mr Fischer announced his resignation later this month.

The British Museum's Stolen treasures were flogged on eBay for £40,000, just £40, it has been revealed. An antiquities expert told the museum three years ago that they suspect a staff member was stealing the items, which had not been on the auction website since 2016. Peter Higgs, 56, a Mediterranean cultures curator who had been with them for more than 30 years, was fired as a result of an internal probe. According to reports, the museum's inability to list all eight million items in its collection made it possible for the perpetrator to carry out the crimes. The robbery has been revived, and the museum is being investigated as to why the arranged pilfering went on for so long.