René Alphonse van den Berghe (Nivelles, 1940 – 19 June 2020), also known as Erik the Belgian (Erik el Belga) has been described by Spain’s Policía Nacional as "an art dealer, restorer, painter, writer and international thief".
[2] Burglarising primarily Spanish churches and monasteries, alone or with others, he is believed to have been responsible for the theft of thousands of religious artworks.
[3] Although Erik was imprisoned several times, ultimately in Spain for 37 months, the Spanish courts failed to convict him of any art theft.
[4] Van den Berghe was a self-proclaimed thief, stating: "I’m no small-time crook.
"[5] On 7 November 1980 van den Berghe stole six Flemish tapestries from a church in the town of Castrojeriz.