Banker found guilty of smuggling Picasso painting from Spain

A Spanish court sentenced a former bank president to 18 months in prison on Thursday after finding him guilty of trying to smuggle a painting by Pablo Picasso that was deemed a national artistic treasure out of the country.

The court also fined ex-Bankinter head Jaime Botn 52.4 million euros (58.5 million dollars) and gave ownership of the painting to the Spanish state.

A team of Spanish police experts flew to the French island of Corsica in 2015 to retrieve Picasso's masterpiece Head of a Young Woman, which is valued at 24 million euros ($26 million).

The work was owned by Botn, the former head of Bankinter and brother of the late Emilio Botn, former head of the powerful Santander banking group.

Corsican authorities said that they had been tipped off about an attempted smuggling of the prized painting from Spain by boat.

They said the oil painting, which comes from the Cubist master's pink period and features a woman with long black hair, was seized when the boat's captain was unable to produce a certificate.

On the boat, authorities found a document in Spanish confirming that the work was of cultural interest and was banned from leaving Spain, Picasso's homeland, without permission. The verdict can be appealed.