2 Charged in Theft of $2-Million Vase

The government has charged two men with stealing a 14th-Century Chinese vase and other works of art from six museums in daylight thefts, federal officials said Friday.

The art works and antiques, ranging from the $2-million vase to 16 pocket watches, have a total value of $3.5 million, the FBI reported. The works were taken from Jan. 12 to Feb. 25 from museums in Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, Syracuse and Albany, N. Y., and Columbus, Ohio.

George A. Athanasatos, 34, and Ronald Corteselli, 28, both of New York, pleaded not guilty to theft charges and were ordered held without bail.

James Fox, head of the FBI’s New York office, said that most of the objects had been taken during hours when the museums were open to the public. They were removed from glass-covered display cases that did not have burglar alarms, he said.

The two men were indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Boston on charges of trafficking in stolen goods, including the Yuan Dynasty vase, which was stolen from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.