Harvard Rare Book Thief Held on Bail

A Middlesex County district judge yesterday ordered Jose Torres, 35, to be held on $5,000 bail for his alleged theft of $750,000 worth of rare books and bookplates from the Harvard University libraries.

Torres was indicted last month by a grand jury on 16 charges of theft and malicious destruction of property.

Torres allegedly stole items from Harvard's Fine Arts Library, Widener Library and the Frances Loeb Library of the School of Design, according to Harvard University Police (HUPD) Sergeant Richard W. Mederos, in a Jan. 31 article in the Crimson.

Most of the stolen books focused on Islamic and Middle Eastern architecture.

University officials said several of the books were one-of-a-kind.

Torres allegedly cut out the pages of some of the items before selling them to art and antique dealers in his hometown of Grenada, Spain.

Harvard library officials made a major break in the stolen book case last June when they were searching catalogues to find replacements for the missing books.

Officials spoke to a Grenada book dealer who had at least two rare books which were similar to those that had been stolen from Harvard. The book dealer confirmed that the books bore the Harvard stamp.

Upon being contacted by the library officials, Mederos traced the books from the book dealer to an antique dealer who said he bought the books from a Cambridge resident.

Torres was arrested on June 25 after authorities received information leading them to believe that Torres was planning to leave the country, according to a press release from the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office.

Authorities seized 1,500 books, prints, maps and plates stolen from Harvard libraries from Torres' home.

According to Middlesex County Prosecutor Eliot Green, investigators found information and a catalogue in the memory of his computer which linked Torres to the crime.

An HUPD search of the Torres apartment resulted in the discovery of $500,000 in plates, books and prints, as well as information suggesting that about 200 more books had been shipped to Grenada.

Mederos then contacted INTERPOL, an international policing system, which alerted Grenada police to retrieve the shipment.

Mederos travelled to Spain and inventoried the confiscated items, which were valued at $250,000.

After his arrest Torres admitted to stealing the 41 items that he had listed for sale in a catalogue.

Torres' attorney said his client had been receiving psychiatric treatment.

Dealers found to be in possession of stolen books have cooperated with authorities and returned the books to Harvard, according to the district attorney's office.

Before Torres' arrest, one of the stolen books was allegedly sold for $2,400 in Grenada and then allegedly re-sold for $4,800 in London.

Torres, who has no affiliation with the University, was granted library privileges because his wife is a Harvard graduate student, Mederos said.

A Widener library official confirmed last month that it is the library's policy to grant library privileges to the spouses of students and faculty members.

Torres' wife has not been implicated in the investigation, Mederos said.

--The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.

Mederos then contacted INTERPOL, an international policing system, which alerted Grenada police to retrieve the shipment.

Mederos travelled to Spain and inventoried the confiscated items, which were valued at $250,000.

After his arrest Torres admitted to stealing the 41 items that he had listed for sale in a catalogue.

Torres' attorney said his client had been receiving psychiatric treatment.

Dealers found to be in possession of stolen books have cooperated with authorities and returned the books to Harvard, according to the district attorney's office.

Before Torres' arrest, one of the stolen books was allegedly sold for $2,400 in Grenada and then allegedly re-sold for $4,800 in London.

Torres, who has no affiliation with the University, was granted library privileges because his wife is a Harvard graduate student, Mederos said.

A Widener library official confirmed last month that it is the library's policy to grant library privileges to the spouses of students and faculty members.

Torres' wife has not been implicated in the investigation, Mederos said.

--The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.