Posing as a musician and collector, a person from California satisfied a violin store in Virginia to ship him quite a lot of useful testing instruments, mentioned federal regulation enforcement officers. His retailer has delivered a violin of $ 175,000 from $ 175,000, one other from 1903, value $ 55,000 and three bows value $ 5,000, workers mentioned.
The person, the 58 -year -old Mark Meng of Irvine, California, had both to purchase the instruments or to return them after a brief check interval, the authorities mentioned. As an alternative, he despatched a test for $ 235,234 to the shop, which he bounced, in response to an indictment, and offered one of many violins for part of what it was value. He additionally took violins from a number of different music shops and robbed a financial institution close to his house, the indictment mentioned.
D -Meng, who pleaded responsible in September by a census of wire fraud and a single financial institution theft, was sentenced to Wednesday at 46 months within the federal jail.
A lawyer of G -Mang, Anthony M. Salis, mentioned on Wednesday that his consumer, who really performs the violin, appears to have struggled after he was launched from jail for a preliminary sentence. He had “entered some medication and playing,” mentioned Mr. Salis, “And issues one way or the other got here out of use.”
Within the Memorandum of Defendant’s Sentence, Solis writes that on the day of his arrest within the spring of 2024, he obtained a coronary heart assault.
The indictment states that from 2020 to 2023, Mr. Meng, posing as a collector of musical devices, has contacted a number of violin outlets throughout the nation who wish to attempt high-end violins, which he claims to have an interest within the buy. In some circumstances, workers mentioned, he purchased bows earlier than asking for the violins for a brief trial.
Prosecutors have mentioned that G -Mang has resold a number of the violins he has obtained illegally for hundreds of {dollars} on involuntary patrons. In the meantime, they mentioned that G -Mang was lied to in violin shops, from which he stole, justifying why the instruments weren’t returned. Based on the indictment, D -Mang informed an worker at a music retailer that he inadvertently delivered his violin Gand & Bernardel, relationship again to 1870 and price $ 60,000 in Amazon.
For June 24, a listening to for restitution within the case is scheduled.
Prosecutors mentioned that, along with heading to violin shops, he additionally tried as a financial institution robber. In April 2024, prosecutors mentioned, Merng entered a financial institution in Irvin, wearing a hat, sun shades and a bandana that covers his face. D -Meng gave a observe to the financial institution, saying, “$ 18,000. Take away. Please keep cool. No hurt. Thx,” in response to court docket paperwork.
When the financial institution cashier mentioned he didn’t have entry to this sum of money, he mentioned, “Give me what you might have,” in response to the paperwork.
Based on the authorized paperwork to Teller, he delivered over $ 446 and Males Mung escaped.
“Pure despair,” mentioned his lawyer, Solis, for the theft. He mentioned that G -Mang had taken this crime after he had already met the federal government and tried to resolve the fraud case.
“The scheme of fraud was type of subtle,” mentioned Solis. “The financial institution theft was a kind of cartoon.”
