Violinist hangs himself after scam exposed

A RUSSIAN master violinist has been found hanged in his flat hours after Italian police cracked a fake violin scam.

Maestro professor Serguej Diatchenko, 64, took his own life after being bailed during a fraud investigation into bogus violins said to have netted him more than £750,000.

Officers raided the flat he shared with his daughter Masha, 13, also an acclaimed violinist, following complaints from students who were suspicious about violins he had sold them as antique.

Officers recovered 197 violins from his flat that were ready to be passed off as Stradivaris and other great makes. Diatchenko was arrested on fraud charges after police witnessed a transaction for an instrument he claimed was made by the great 16th-century violin-maker Gasparo da Salò.

The student who led the police to the pay-out had become suspicious after spending 650,000 (£515,000) on a fake instrument attributed to the celebrated 18th-century craftsman Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.

Police called in the expertise of a Rome-based violin maker, Claude Lebet, who is regularly commissioned by auction houses to authenticate instruments. Yesterday, Mr Lebet said: "It didn't take long for me to realise the instruments were fakes – in fact, very poor copies."

Captain Massimo Quagliarella, who led the investigation, said: "We know of at least six students taught by Diatchenko who paid large sums of money for instruments that he said were authentic but were copies. We seized 197 violins from his house which were bought from flea markets around Rome and were worth no more than 5,000 (£4,000) and which we believe he was going to pass off as genuine Stradivari or Da Salò."

Last night, Silvano D'Andria, manager of Diatchenko's daughter Masha, and a close friend, said: "This has left us all very shocked and upset."

Diatchenko had been living in Rome for more than 20 years and had set up a violin school. His classes were popular as he charged only 25 (£20) an hour, a quarter of the fee other classical tutors asked for.

One student, who asked not to be named, said: "He was popular because he was a good teacher and he gave lessons at a fraction of the price of others.

"When he sold instruments he would let the students have them for several weeks so they could get a feel for them before they bought them. He always seemed a very nice man, but, above all, he was a wonderful violinist and teacher."

Police arrested Diatchenko as he left his flat with a briefcase packed with 20,000 (£16,000) in cash.

Yesterday, a police spokesman in Rome said: "We believe that dozens of students were victims of this fraud."

BACKGROUND

THE great 16th-century violin-maker Gasparo da Salò is credited with making the first modern violins with another historic craftsman, Andrea Amati.

Serguej Diatchenko, a student of the great Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, sold violins he claimed were made by Da Salò, Amati and Amati's famous grandson, Nicolò, the man who taught Antonio Stradivari his trade.