A man from Irvin, convicted of organizing a plan to steal valuable violin, was sentenced to a bank when he realized that federal investigators were closing him, with four years in prison.
Mark Meng, 58, this week was sentenced to 46 months in the Federal Prison. He will face the restoration session in June, according to the US Department of Justice.
Last September, Menn admitted to fraud on wires and one charge of banking theft after his arrest in terms of high -value violin stealing and theft that followed.
The plan included Meng, pretending to be a mosque, and calling violin stores throughout the country in search of valuable violin, then asked him to loan him so that he can determine whether or not he will buy it.
After receiving the violin, Meng will send the original personal checks who know that it will wear, then ask again and repeated extensions, and send new checks that he also knows that they will wear, or simply lie and say he has already sent the tools back and lost in the mail.
But Meng kept the tools and eventually sold it to a violin merchant in Los Angeles, he was not aware of the scheme.
Among the stolen violins were 1823 Lorenzo Vintepan, at a value of $ 175,000 and 1870 Gand & Bernardel values at a value of $ 60,000. The Ministry of Justice said that two other violins and the bow at a value of $ 100,000 are among those who were sold for sale.
The theft eventually drew the attention of the FBI, who launched an investigation into the Meng deal.
After realizing that he was under investigation, Meng entered a bank in Irvin wearing a hat and sunglasses, Pandana and Latics gloves, and a note raised to the cashier bank that stated: “$ 18,000. – Withdraw. Please. Stay calm! No harm.” Thanks “.
Al -Sarraf was unable to reach the amount he demanded, and eventually delivered only $ 446 of its stairs. Then the thief escaped from the bank on a small white bus.
An underlying print was tracked that was later on the observation of the robbery to Meng and the smuggler was found in his home. He was arrested several days later and he remained in the reservation since then.
The case was investigated by the technical crime team of the Federal Investigation Office, with the help of the local authorities.
Although he will spend nearly four years in prison, at the time of his conviction, officials of Justice said he might face a 20 -year prison sentence.