A 57-year-old man named Mark Meng pleaded guilty in federal court in Santa Ana to a scheme involving the theft of expensive, vintage violins and a bank robbery in Irvine. Meng was charged with wire fraud and bank robbery and is set to be sentenced on Feb. 24.
Between August 2020 and April 2021 in Orange and Los Angeles counties, Meng deceived violin dealers into lending him high-end instruments for a trial period under false pretenses of intending to purchase them. After keeping the violins past the trial period, Meng would negotiate a purchase price, send a check that he knew would bounce, and then claim the violin was lost in the mail or kite another check when confronted about the bounced payment. He would then attempt to sell the stolen violins.
Prosecutors stated that Meng stole several valuable violins, including a 1903 Guilio Degani violin worth $175,000, an 1823 Lorenzo Ventapane violin valued at $175,000, and others totaling up to $44,700 from the sale of three violins and a violin bow. Additionally, Meng robbed a U.S. Bank in Irvine of $446 by handing a teller a demand note and making off with whatever money was available.
