In Moscow, Officers of MIA of Russia Main Directorate for Criminal Investigation detained alleged thief of ancient Russian icon and painting by Russian artist

'Officers of the MIA of Russia Main Directorate for Criminal Investigation together with colleagues from the Basmanny District of the capital detained a previously convicted man, suspected of fraud and theft of an icon of special historical value.

It was preliminarily established that a woman from the city of Moscow decided to sell her icon 'Praise of Our Lady' painted by an unknown icon painter in the second half of the 15th century. She asked her longtime friend to help her.

After a while, the man found a potential buyer, who introduced himself as a seller of antiques. He took the icon for sale and said that he would sell it to his customers for $350,000.

At the next meeting, the offender handed over a deposit of $10,000 and said that he had found a buyer, who had already received the painting. He pledged to make a full settlement in a couple of days, but did not fulfill his promise.

As police later found out, the suspect had sold the piece of art for $80,000 to an unsuspecting collector. The latter then voluntarily handed over the icon to law enforcers. The unscrupulous antiques dealer disposed of the money of $70,000 at his discretion.

In addition, the offender is suspected of stealing fraudulently a painting by Russian artist Konstantin Somov. Thus, through third parties, he received the said canvas to his hands. Then he replaced the original painting with a quality copy and returned it to the owner, saying that he had failed in selling it. After discovering the replacement of the painting, the man contacted the police.

The Inquiry unit of the IA Department for the Central Administrative District of the MIA of Russia GA for the City of Moscow instituted criminal cases on the grounds of offenses under Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code. The results of the art forensic examination showed that the stolen icon had a special artistic, historical, scientific and cultural value. In this regard, it was decided to reclassify the actions of the suspect to Article 164 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Placement to custody has been selected as the preventive measure for the man. The preliminary criminal investigation is on-going,' said the Spokesperson for the Russian MIA Irina Volk.