CAIRO-A tanning-workshop owner in Giza, south of Cairo has claimed that he found the stolen "Poppy Flowers", a Vincent Van Gogh masterpiece in a desperate bid to secure a reward and repay his debts, a security official said Sunday. Police arrested Ahmed Youssef, a 39- year-old owner, for reporting false information about the stolen painting the official said on condition of anonymity. Business tycoon Naguib Sawiris has offered a LE1 million reward for any person giving information that will lead to the restoring of the lost painting that was stolen form the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil museum last moth. Ahmed has phoned the Ministry of Culture claiming that he had “an important piece of information” that would help the police retrieve the stolen Dutch master's painting, which is also known as "Vase with Flowers" But police found out that Ahmed, who has been having financial troubles and in debt, has made up this trick to get the reward. An early investigation of the theft showed "flagrant shortcomings" in security, with only seven out of 43 security cameras working properly, local media said. The police have stepped up the search for the Van Gogh painting valued at more than $50-million stolen from the museum. The painting of the yellow and red flowers in a vase had been stolen before, in 1977, but was found the following year and returned to the museum.
