In a remarkable joint effort between the National Police of Spain and the Ukrainian Security Service, a total of 11 invaluable gold artefacts with an estimated worth of over €60 million have been recovered in Madrid.
A statement from the National Police has disclosed the details of the operation that led to the retrieval of the precious items, originally part of Ukraine's historical heritage, which were poised to be illicitly traded on the black market.
In a collaborative operation, the National Police in Madrid, working in conjunction with the Ukrainian Security Service, successfully seized the 11 exquisitely crafted pieces of gold jewellery. As a result, five people have been arrested, including three Spanish nationals and two from Ukraine.
The investigation was executed with the assistance of the Interior Attache's Office in several countries, including Bulgaria, Ukraine, Albania, North Macedonia, and Cyprus, as well as the International Cooperation Division.
The initial leads for the operation emerged when authorities received information that a Ukrainian resident in Madrid was attempting to sell historically significant gold jewellery from Ukraine. These items were not authorized for sale through legal channels, such as auction houses.
To circumvent this restriction, the jewellery was integrated into the assets of newly established businesses designed to provide a shield of legitimacy, making it easier for a group of investors to engage in their trade.
To obscure the true origin of the artefacts, accompanying documentation in Ukrainian, English, and Spanish falsely claimed that the pieces belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Concurrently, ownership and managerial rights were transferred to the primary suspect, an Orthodox priest residing in Madrid.
Furthermore, at the request of the alleged owners, cultural property experts in Spain prepared reports valuing the jewellery at more than €60 million, further adding to the facade of legality.
The breakthrough in the case came in 2021 when a unique gold belt adorned with ram heads was discovered in a private vault in Madrid. This belt had been privately sold by the main suspect to a local entrepreneur. Subsequent investigations revealed that there were other similar artefacts connected to the individuals under scrutiny.
The collaboration with the Ukrainian Security Service allowed authorities to trace the gold belt and other items back to an exhibit in a Kiev museum that occurred between 2009 and 2013. After the exhibition, the valuable jewels ended up in the possession of the Orthodox priest.
Working with an accomplice and third-party assistance, they forged documents to establish the artefacts' origin and confirm their ownership. The investigation found that these treasures had been illegally transported out of Ukraine before May 2016.
The authorities have confirmed the arrest of five suspects on charges of money laundering, and they have recently announced the seizure of an additional ten pieces of gold, which share similarities with the belt recovered in 2021.
All of the confiscated items, which can be traced back to the Greco-Scythian culture spanning the 8th to 4th centuries BC, are currently undergoing examination at the National Archaeological Museum and Spain's Institute of Cultural Heritage. The investigation into this extraordinary case is ongoing.
