Spanish law enforcement agencies seized 11 gold items in Madrid worth more than 60 million euros related to the historical heritage of Ukraine and illegally exported from the country, the kingdom’s police said in a press release issued on Monday.
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“Agents of the National Police, during a joint operation with the Security Service of Ukraine, seized 11 gold items in Madrid worth more than 60 million euros related to the historical heritage of Ukraine,” the report says.
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It is clarified that law enforcement agents arrested five people, three Spaniards and two Ukrainians, thereby eliminating a criminal network involved in the illegal export of cultural property from Ukraine.
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The seized items were gold jewelry with an important historical role. In order to launder the origin of the products, the criminals accompanied them with documents in Ukrainian, English and Spanish confirming their affiliation with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. At the same time, they transferred ownership and the right to dispose of them to the main defendant – an Orthodox priest living in Madrid.
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“The first item was seized by investigators in 2021. It was a gold belt with ram heads, which was kept in a safe in Madrid and which the main suspect sold privately to a Madrid businessman,” police explain.
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The investigation was carried out in cooperation with the Home Affairs Attachés in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, North Macedonia and Cyprus, as well as the International Cooperation Department.
