Museum bird skin theft man ordered to pay money  01 August 2011
A student who stole 299 rare bird skins from the Natural History
Museum at Tring to fund his studies has been ordered to pay
£125,150 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.   Edwin Rist, aged 22,
from the USA, was sentenced in April for the burglary, which
took place on 24 June 2009. He was previously given a 12-month
prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a supervision
order for 12 months.  Following a hearing at St Albans Crown
Court today he was also given a confiscation order to pay back
£125,150, after also pleading guilty to money laundering
offences.  This is the amount that it is estimated he later made
by selling the bird skins, stolen from a private collections
area in the Museum, on places like Ebay.  Detective Sergeant Joe
Quinlivan, from Herts Constabulary’s Economic Crime Unit, said,
'This is a very positive result for us and sends a strong
message that making money through crime never pays.    Rist has
£13,371.98 available to pay