In Moscow, officers of MIA of Russia Main Directorate for Criminal Investigation detained suspect of theft of expensive painting under the guise of its restoration

'Officers of MIA of Russia Main Directorate for Criminal Investigation together with colleagues from the Basmanny District of Moscow, with the power support of Rosgvardia fighters, detained a suspect in the fraudulent theft of an antique painting, the value of which was estimated at more than three million rubles.

According to preliminary data, in 2017, the offender, out of self-interest, offered his friend to restore his painting by Russian artist Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky. The suspect wrote a receipt for the painting and also left a deposit of $10,000. Then he took the painting and disappeared, not intending from the start to fulfill the promised work.

After a while it turned out that the defendant sold the expensive canvas to a Moscow antique dealer. And the latter resold it subsequently through an antique salon. Officers are now establishing the whereabouts of the stolen property.

The Investigative Unit of the IA Department for the Central Administrative District of the MIA of Russia GA for the City of Moscow instituted a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code. Placement to custody was selected as the preventive measure for the suspect.

Currently, further operative investigative steps are being taken to establish all the circumstances of the unlawful activity,' said the Spokesperson for the Russian MIA Irina Volk.