March 23, 2009

Well known humanitarian and philanthropist Lothario d'Aubigne was arrested Friday night for money laundering, embezzlement, and the buying and selling of illegal and stolen dark artifacts. D'Aubigne chairboards multiple charities which aim to better the lives of witches and wizards, and donates to numerous others. Investigations revealed that D'Aubigne was using these charities to launder money and was embezzling from their funds.

Auror Edward Pratt confronted D'Aubigne at the London Gallery of Magical Arts, which led to a duel of catastrophic proportions. Numerous exhibits were damaged during the duel, but Auror Pratt eventually subdued D'Aubigne. The duel was certainly an exciting event for a few straggling patrons of the gallery. "We were looking at the sculptures when I saw an incredibly attractive auror come flying into the room. He knocked over one of the pieces as he fell, and then got right back to his feet and kept throwing spells. It was terrifying and exciting all at once!" said Denise Diggleby.

After D'Aubigne's apprehension, there was a raid made on the gallery and his private home. The Prophet has been told that final tally of illegal items in D'Aubigne's possession numbers well into the hundreds. Aurors and the Department of Mysteries are currently working together to identify all items in D'Aubigne's private collection, as well as working on an inventory on all items displayed in the London Gallery of Magical Arts in the hopes of returning all stolen items to their proper owners.

Since his arrest he has become a suspect in other crimes, including involvement in runespoor smuggling operations. D'Aubigne will be held in the ministry holding cells until his trial. He had one prior conviction on his record in Italy for being possession of stolen good thirteen years ago.

The auror office has been showing its weaknesses in the past months with important cases stalling, the terrorist movement that’s been instilling fear, distrust and worry into the minds of Wizarding Britain and the tragic and disastrous events of the 11th of last month. With the anniversary of the Remembering day murders approaching and the case still not fully resolved, the aurors have a lot of work to do to win back the confidence of the public. With high profile arrests like this one, they are certainly on the right track.