In Madrid, law enforcers arrested 5 members of the criminal network, which was engaged in the illegal export of cultural property from Ukraine, during the arrest were seized 11 gold items worth more than €60 million, reports the National police of Spain.
“Operatives arrested five people, thus eliminating the criminal network engaged in the illegal export of cultural property from Ukraine. The seized items – gold jewelry of great historical and economic value – were stolen, illegally exported and were to be sold in Madrid,” reads the report published on the website of the Spanish police on Monday.
The investigation was reportedly carried out with the participation of the attachés for internal affairs of Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, Northern Macedonia and Cyprus, as well as the International Cooperation Division.
The investigation found that the criminals, in order to conceal the origin of the jewelry, accompanied them with documents in Ukrainian, English and Spanish, which confirmed their belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
At the same time, the defendants transferred ownership and the right to dispose of them to the main suspect in the case, an Orthodox priest who lives in Madrid.
Investigators first seized the gold belt with rams’ heads from the main suspect in 2021, when the priest tried to sell it privately to a businessman in Madrid.
Thanks to cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine, the Spanish police established that the jewelry, which was placed as exhibits at an exhibition held in a museum in Kiev between 2009 and 2013, fell into the hands of the priest, who in collusion with a second person of the same nationality and with the help of third parties forged documents confirming the origin of cultural property and accreditation of its owner.
As a result of the investigation, it was found that the jewelry was illegally exported from Ukraine until May 2016.
It is noted that all seized items belong to the Greco-Scythian culture VIII-IV centuries BC, at the moment they are under study in the National Archaeological Museum and the Spanish Institute of cultural heritage.
Law enforcers are continuing their investigation.
