Spanish law enforcement officers confiscated antique gold jewelry worth 60 million euros stolen in Ukraine.
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This was reported on Twitter by the Spanish police.
Intervenidas en #Madrid 11 peces de oro valoradas en ➕60.000.000 € pertenecientes al patrimonio histórico de #Ukraine
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“Las joyas de oro, de gran valor histórico y económico, havien sido sustraídas y exportadas il·lícitamente y anaven a ser vendidas a Madrid pic.twitter.com/WTAJL5TfNQ– Policia Nacional (@policia) October 23, 2023
We are talking about 11 items, including necklaces, bracelets and earrings, dating from the Greco-Scythian period between the 8th and 4th centuries. BC e. They were taken out with fake documents in 2016 and wanted to be sold in Madrid. According to the documents, the jewelry allegedly belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, but which one was not specified.
In this case, two Ukrainians were arrested – one of them an Orthodox priest, and three Spaniards.
All objects belonging to the Greco-Scythian culture of the 8th-4th centuries BC are being studied at the National Archaeological Museum and the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain, so the police investigation remains open.
The first investigations in the so-called Operation Cusco began when agents learned that a series of gold jewelry of great historical and economic value from Ukraine was being sold by a Ukrainian citizen living in Madrid.
Since the jewels could not be sold through normal channels such as auction, given their illegal origin, the jewels were included in the capital of various commercial companies created for this purpose in order to give them a legal appearance and thus facilitate their sale by a group of investors.
The gold coins were accompanied by documents in Ukrainian, English and Spanish to prove they belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which in turn allegedly handed them over to the Orthodox priest, the chief investigator.
At the request of members of the criminal organization, Spanish cultural property experts prepared reports on 11 exhibits.
The investigation began in 2021, after which the police were able to prove that the suspects had more similar products.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.