Nili Shamrat of Tarzana was caught after she sold clocks back to the Jerusalem museum that her late husband, Na’aman Diller, stole them from in 1983, investigators said.
When prolific Israeli burglar Na’aman Diller discovered he was dying of cancer in 2003, he decided to leave his widow a collection of some 100 artifacts of decidedly questionable origin.
They included rare clocks, manuscripts, paintings and an item billed as “the world’s most expensive watch”: a gold and rock crystal pocket watch made for Marie Antoinette in the 18th century.
All the items had allegedly been stolen during a storied heist at Jerusalem’s L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in 1983.
But that didn’t stop Diller’s widow, Nili Shamrat, 64, of Tarzana, from trying to sell dozens of the timepieces back to the museum no questions asked, authorities said.
Her effort set in motion a lengthy international investigation that ended a few weeks ago when Shamrat was sentenced in L.A. County Superior Court to five years’ probation and 300 hours of community service for receiving the stolen property.
The California insurance commissioner’s office announced the end of the case Tuesday, saying most of the valuables had been sent back to the museum.