Romanian National History Museum says its name linked to attempted fraud

A fraudster pretending to work for an institute connected to the National History Museum of Romania has sent letters to people asking for money in exchange for false documents, the museum said Monday.

The museum said in a statement that their attention had been drawn to “a letter with dubious content where a person pretends to be an employee of a so-called institution which is subordinated to the museum.”

The person, writing on behalf of a fictitious institution, the National Archives of Romanian Nobility, promises the recipient that in exchange for money, he or she can obtain documents attesting they that they come from an aristocratic family „which will give them the right to claim an inheritance.”

The museum said that it had no connection to the unnamed person and did not have authority over an institute by that name.

“We don’t encourage these practices,” it said.

It asked people who had received similar letters asking for money to report the case to police.

It is the latest case of suspected to fraud to hit the normally staid museum in recent weeks.

Romanian sculptor Ioan Bolborea is being investigated over charges that he used “inferior quality” for public artwork.

The inquiry began after the tail of the she-wolf which stands outside the National History Museum on the iconic Victory Way, snapped off in 2017 and the  sculpture was sent to be repaired.

During repair work, experts observed that the work was made from brass and not bronze.

The Administration of Touristic Monuments and Patrimony who awarded him a number of contracts to carry out works in the Romanian capital  filed a complaint and police began a probe.

Authorities say Mr Bolborea,  who was tasked with casting the monument, was contracted to use bronze.

The artist says the case is revenge for a legal dispute.

He was formally charged for ‘ongoing fraud’ from 2005 to 2016 with ‘serious consequences.’ His home and workshop were searched by police.

LĂSAȚI UN MESAJ

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