Benoît Magimel’s three Césars were stolen during a burglary between August 16 and the evening of Tuesday, September 3, while the actor was away from home.
A valuable burglary… that is worthless? This Tuesday, September 3, Benoît Magimel filed a complaint for a burglary at his home, located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. According to information from BFMTV, the actor’s three Césars were stolen.
However, this loot may not be of great value to the thieves. Indeed, the statuettes will be difficult to resell in an official circuit, because they are easily identifiable. First, they are engraved with the name of the actor, but above all Interpol has a database on stolen works of art and these stolen Caesars would thus be immediately seized.
Very severe criminal penalties
Furthermore, as the auction house Cornette de Saint Cyr pointed out to BFMTV, no resale structure could accept them, as the buyer and the reseller would be taking too great a risk.
The criminal penalties for receiving stolen goods are very severe: a person found guilty faces a prison sentence of five years and a fine of 375,000 euros.
Even if they are not stolen, the Académie des César prohibits the sale of these awards, writing in its regulations: “The Césars are awarded in a personal capacity, and cannot be commercialized.”
Beyond the symbolic dimension of the object, the value of such a statuette would be between 25,000 and 50,000 euros, the sculpture was not made of gold, but only covered in gold.
Candice Mahout, Stéphane Sellami with Salomé Robles
