Imelda’s Aide Sentenced For Monet Theft

A former personal secretary to Imelda R. Marcos was sentenced on Monday to two to six years in state prison in New York for conspiring to sell Impressionist masterpieces belonging to the Philippine government that disappeared when Ferdinand Marcos was ousted as president. A jury took less than three hours to convict Vilma Bautista in mid-November of conspiracy and tax fraud in connection with the sale of the 1899 Monet piece, “Le Bassin aux Nymphéas” (pictured). The painting had been taken along with three other valuable works in late 1995 from the walls of an Upper East Side townhouse, owned by the Philippine government, where Mrs. Marcos, 84, held lavish parties when in New York. Mrs. Marcos is still alive and kicking up her shoes: she is a member of the Philippines’ House of Representatives. She has never done time for all the alleged massive stealing of funds — U.S. taxpayer-provided — she committed with her husband.

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