Former Airborne Museum in northern France Director Patrick Bunel accused of fraud
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, September 1, 2025


Former Airborne Museum in northern France Director Patrick Bunel accused of fraud
Bunel joined the Airborne Museum in 2006 and quit in 2011.



CHERBOURG (AFP).- A former director of a D-Day museum in northern France is accused of using its funds to buy artifacts worth tens of thousands of euros and keeping them for himself.

Prosecutors say Patrick Bunel, who worked at the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mere-Eglise near the site of two American landing beaches in Normandy, used the museum's money to buy World War II memorabilia which he did not hand over.

They called for a two-year suspended sentence late Tuesday at a court in the port city of Cherbourg. A ruling will be delivered on March 25.

Prosecutors have also sought suspended jail terms for four other accused: three sellers of World War II memorabilia and a museum employee.

Bunel has owned up to paying for new acquisitions for the museum -- including a tank, an armoured vehicle, arms and jackets -- in cash using the museum's funds, but insisted he planned to hand them over.

Some of the items were kept in a barn belonging to his father located about 85 kilometres (50 miles) away.

Bunel joined the Airborne Museum in 2006 and quit in 2011. He is currently head of the Normandy Tank Museum that opened last year near the town of Carentan.

The D-Day landings, which began on June 6, 1944, helped change the course of the Second World War and led to the defeat of Nazi Germany.



© 1994-2014 Agence France-Presse










Today's News

January 18, 2014

Paperworlds: Childhood drawings by Contemporary artists at me Collectors Room Berlin

Bone in box may be from England's King Alfred: Researchers from University of Winchester

The Morgan Library & Museum displays its rarely seen collection of Spanish drawings

Thieves try to steal Sigmund Freud's ashes from Golders Green crematorium in London

Argentinian artist Guillermo Kuitca's third solo exhibition in Zurich opens at Hauser and Wirth

Exhibition at David Nolan Gallery presents a new body of work by Mel Kendrick

T. Rex fossil skeleton will arrive at Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History April 15

Sotheby's London to offer the Collection of the legendary musician Gustav Leonhardt

Former Airborne Museum in northern France Director Patrick Bunel accused of fraud

The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929-1940 opens at the Block Museum

Masterpiece by Alexis Preller, titan of South African art, offered at Bonhams London

M+ receives major donation of 37 works from Chinese art collector, Guan Yi

The work of Belgian artist Walter Swennen is the subject of a major winter exhibition at WIELS

The Center for Creative Photography appoints Joshua Chuang as Chief Curator

"Mia Brownell: Delightful, Delicious, Disgusting" opens at Hunterdon Art Museum

New works by Spencer Lewis on view at Edward Cella Art + Architecture

Frieze New York 2014: Projects announced

Women Only: Group exhibition of works by women artists on view at Flomenhaft Gallery

Ambika P3 presents Out of Ice: A dramatic exhibition by Scottish artist Elizabeth Opgilvie

In Lukes and Dregs: Magali Reus opens exhibition at The Approach

Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg spotlights the magical art of New Mexico

Around 1,600 quality lots to be sold at Louis J. Dianni's Annual Palm Beach Auction




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 




Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)


Editor: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful