PCCOCS gave details on attempted deportation of violin
13:16 | 10.12.2021 Category: Social
Chisinau, Dec. 10 / MOLDPRES /- Representatives of the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) and the Customs Service held a briefing today, and clarified on the case of attempting to deport a violin through Chisinau International Airport.
The violin was not declared at the airport, and subsequently, during the control, two certificates dated 20.10.2021 and issued by an expert accredited by the Ministry of Culture were presented, in which it is indicated that the musical instrument was created by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini and that "it has historical and artistic value for the heritage of the Republic of Moldova." In addition, inside the cover, the document "Expertise of musical instruments" was issued, issued by the same expert, indicating the value of the violin, which exceeds the amount of 2 million euros.
The prosecutors claim that the legislation of the Republic of Moldova stipulates that private people do not have the right to extract cultural values from the territory of the country. On the other hand, other values in the field of art, literature, science, culture and religion can be removed from the territory provided the authorization issued by the Ministry of Culture, which specifies the cost of the object and the fact that it has no cultural value.
They also mentioned that the person did not have such an authorization at the time of the detection of the violin, and the Ministry of Culture, according to the official answer offered to the Customs Service, communicated that until October 22, it did not issue such an authorization. The lack of documents was the basis for starting the criminal investigation for attempted smuggling of cultural values, by not declaring the property. Subsequently, the violin was lifted, and a few days later another expert accredited by the Ministry of Culture, issued a certificate with the statement contradicting the one presented on October 22, 2021 on the value of heritage.
The representatives of the PCCOCS claim that the person on whom the violin was detected presented to the criminal investigation body, through his lawyer, the loan contract of a violin. However, it was without a date for its preparation.
The authorities received information from 2 Interpol Member States regarding 3 cases of theft of violins with similar characteristics. On one of them, additional data were requested on the violin detained in the Republic of Moldova, necessary for their verification by the requesting country.
The PCCOCS stated that the authenticity of this instrument has not been confirmed to date. At the same time, the criminal investigation body ordered the performance of the complex judicial expertise, with the attraction of a specialist in the field.
The violin was detected and picked up on October 22, at the airport in the capital, during the customs control of the passengers of the Chisinau-Moscow flight.