AUTHORITIES in Argentina charged the daughter of a fugitive Nazi official on Thursday with trying to hide an 18th century painting from authorities following revelations that it had been stolen from a Jewish art dealer during World War II.

The federal prosecutor in charge of the case announced the cover-up charge a day after Patricia Kadgien, one of the daughters of high-level Nazi officer Friedrich Kadgien, handed Portrait of a Lady by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi to the Argentine judiciary eight decades after it was stolen.

The fate of the work remains unclear, pending a decision in the case.

The heir of Jacques Goudstikker — the Dutch-Jewish art collector who owned the painting before Nazis confiscated his world-famous inventory — has made a legal claim to get the painting back, her lawyers have said.

Mr Goudstikker died in a shipwreck in 1940 while fleeing the Netherlands as German troops advanced. He sold his collection, which included Rembrandts and Vermeers, under duress and far below market price.

At least 1,100 stolen works from his gallery remain missing.

The Argentinian court has asked that the painting be displayed at the Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires ahead of any further transfer abroad.

The museum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ms Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, have been under house arrest on suspicion of concealing the painting since police raided their home on Monday for the second time in as many weeks without finding Portrait of a Lady.

Ms Martinez said that Ms Kadgien’s and her husband’s efforts to hide the painting over several days following its sudden appearance in a real estate listing amounted to obstruction of justice.

After the hearing the couple was released from house arrest but barred from travelling abroad and required to notify the court whenever they leave their registered address.