[MSN] Commission shop owner returns missing Hermitage cross

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Commission shop owner returns missing Hermitage cross

St. Petersburg, August 14, Interfax - The owner of a commission shop in 
St. Petersburg has turned in an exhibit missing at the State Hermitage 
Museum to the 9th city criminal investigations department specializing 
on antiques.

The exhibit is numbered 10 on the list of items believed to have been 
stolen from the Hermitage Museum, 9th department chief Vladislav 
Kirillov told journalists on Saturday. This is a reliquary in the shape 
of a gilded and chased cross with a crucifixion mounted on it. On the 
reverse of it there is a chased leaf ornament with five circular 
medallions. The cross bears two hallmarks: an emblem of the city of St 
Petersburg and the date '1760'.

The pledge ticket for the reliquary was issued in the name of Nikolay 
Zavadsky, the husband of a late Hermitage custodian, Larisa Zavadskaya, 
on August 12, 2005.

"According to our information, pledge tickets obtained by the criminal 
investigation department prove that someone was continuing to steal and 
sell museum items even while an audit at the Hermitage stocks was 
underway," he said.

Zavadsky was paid 20,002.8 rubles for the gilded cross weighing 632 
grams, although the police experts specializing on antiques estimated 
its minimum auction value at 300,000 rubles.

The commission shop owner said during his questioning that Larisa 
Zavadskaya had appeared at his shop, although she did not offer any 
items for sale as they did not agree on the price, Kirillov said.

On the whole, "the circle of suspects under the Hermitage theft case was 
determined on August 2, 2006," although it might be expanded in the 
future, he said.

The reliquary has become the 18th out of the 221 missing Hermitage 
exhibits to have been returned to the Hermitage.

http://www.interfax-religion.com