Egypt says stolen pharoah's bracelet melted down, sold for $4,000

Cairo: Egyptian police said on Thursday they arrested a museum employee and three alleged accomplices after a priceless ancient gold bracelet was stol...

Cairo: Egyptian police said on Thursday they arrested a museum employee and three alleged accomplices after a priceless ancient gold bracelet was stolen from Cairo's Egyptian Museum, sold for about $4,000 and then melted down.

The 3,000-year-old bracelet, a gold band adorned with lapis lazuli beads, dated back to the reign of Amenemope, a pharaoh of Egypt's 21st Dynasty (1070-945 BC).

It was reported missing on Saturday by museum staff, a statement from Egypt's interior ministry said, adding that it had been kept in a locked metal safe inside the museum's conservation lab.

It said a restoration specialist working at the museum stole the bracelet on September 9 while on duty.

A silver trader in central Cairo helped facilitate the sale, the police said, first to a gold dealer for 180,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,735), who then sold it to a worker at a gold foundry for 194,000 pounds ($4,025).