The arrest of Baron Steiner

We announced yesterday the arrest in Paris of Baron Steiner de Valmont, former steward of the late Emperor Charles of Habsburg. It was following a complaint of fraud lodged with the Bern public prosecutor's office by Archduke Max of Austria, son of the deceased ex-emperor, against Baron Steiner and his wife, that the Parisian police arrested a few days ago Baron Bruno Steiner, born in 1873, in
Vienna, and his wife, Iréné Chédowska, born in 1882, in Vienna. Archduke Max of Austria accuses the couple of having defrauded a sum of 250,000 Swiss francs from jewelry sales made by the ex-intendant without the authorization of Charles of Habsburg.

The investigation carried out in Bern revealed that the jewels had been sold without the knowledge of the imperial family by Baron Steiner, then ‘intendant. The latter had been instructed only to borrow. Baron Steiner declares that this sale—the jewels were estimated at more than 45 million—brought in 1,600,000 fr. But the Berne public prosecutor's office managed to establish, among other things, that a necklace, having belonged to Marie-Thérèse, had finally been bought by an Englishman for the price of 5 million.

Baron Steiner and his wife have been in the depot for a few days, awaiting the official request for extradition which must be sent by the Swiss government to the French government.