Italy’s junior culture minister investigated over stolen painting

Italy's junior culture minister Vittorio Sgarbi, an art critic and outspoken TV personality whose brief includes protecting the country's cultural heritage, is under investigation over a 17th century painting in his possession that police said on Friday had been stolen. The painting disappeared from a castle near the northern Italian city of Turin in 2013, the art heritage squad of the Carabinieri police said in a statement. Prosecutors suspect it ended up in Sgarbi's hands through fraudulent means and are investigating him over the alleged laundering of stolen goods, police added.