Nazi Loot

German customs officials have found 1,500 "modern art" paintings in the home of Cornelius Gurlitt, the 80-year-old son of Hildebrandt Gurlitt, an art dealer who collaborated with the Nazis and whom Josef Goebbels appointed as director of the proposed Nazi super museum in Linz, Austria. Cornelius Gurlitt was stopped by custom officials on a train to Switzerland in 2010 in a routine sweep to catch Germans with dodgy Swiss bank accounts. He was carrying 9,000 euros in cash. Further investigation revealed he had no declared income but more than 500,000 euros in bank accounts. He has been charged with tax evasion and money-laundering. When customs officials raided his home in Munich, they found 1,500 paintings, the hoard of Hildebrandt Gurlitt from the Nazi era. After the war, Hildebrandt told allied investigators that the artworks were lost when the family mansion was destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden in 1945 (CLICK). He lied (CLICK).