The thief who stole pages from history

"Wealthy businessman Farhad Hakimzadeh has been jailed for two years for stealing pages from rare books in the British Library. To staff at the British Library, Farhad Hakimzadeh seemed like just the kind of person who might pay this world-famous establishment a visit. He is a published author, a collector of rare books, and described as "evidently extremely knowledgeable" according to one expert. He is on the board of directors of the Iranian Heritage Foundation, which promotes Iran's cultural heritage, and is director of a company that publishes books on the Middle East. Hakimzadeh is also an extremely wealthy man, married and living in a large property in London's Knightsbridge. He was described by the British Library as "eminently characteristic of our group of readers". But despite his outward appearance, Hakimzadeh was a thief who mutilated the very precious texts he professed an admiration for" - BBC