The Ministry of Public Security recently reported that a theft of cultural relics 16 years ago was successfully solved. Under the unified organization and coordination of the Ministry of Public Security, the Sichuan public security organs, with the assistance of the public security organs in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other places, after more than 6 months of investigation and evidence collection, cracked the theft of cultural relics in the collection of the Sichuan Provincial Library in 2004, and recovered one national first-class cultural relics and one third-level cultural relic.
The auction will surprise the artifacts from the stolen collection 16 years ago
On September 8, 2020, the Sichuan Provincial Entry-Exit Cultural Relics Appraisal Workstation inspected and found that guangdong Chongzheng Auction Co., Ltd. was about to auction some of the contents of "Fish and Goose Collection". "Fish and Goose Collection" is a collection of letters and poems from the famous writer and educator Lin Sijin and Xie Wuliang, Huang Binhong and other modern celebrities and friends, a total of 7 volumes, which is a collection of cultural relics in the Sichuan Provincial Library. 16 years ago, the Sichuan Provincial Library was stolen, and 6 volumes of the "Fish and Goose Collection" were lost, and only 1 volume is currently preserved in the Sichuan Provincial Library.
Tang Jun, deputy captain of the first brigade of the Second Investigation Division of the Criminal Police Detachment of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau: After the report was reported in 2004, through the investigation of the scene, we found that the door of the library was cut off by the action of external forces, and there were no valuable traces and clues left at the scene.
At that time, the Sichuan Provincial Library was located on Chunxi Road in the bustling city center, a library with a history of more than 100 years, with a collection of more than 5 million books and 650,000 ancient books. On December 13, 2004, the library of the Ancient Books Department of the Sichuan Provincial Library was stolen, and many cultural relics, including Tang Dynasty Buddhist scriptures, were lost. At that time, the Sichuan Provincial Library was located on Chunxi Road in the bustling city center, a library with a history of more than 100 years, with a collection of more than 5 million books and 650,000 ancient books. However, due to conditions, the police were unable to obtain valid physical evidence from the scene, and the case was shelved until 16 years later, when the stolen stolen goods reappeared.
Wei Guanghua, police officer of the Jinjiang District Public Security Bureau of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau: We received a notice from the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Appraisal Station, and then the special case team we formed went to Guangzhou to seize the batch of "Fish and Goose Collection", according to the holders of the "Fish and Goose Collection" learned that this batch of cultural relics was auctioned at the Shanghai Chongyuan Auction House in 2005, and then our special case team immediately went to Shanghai.
The Sichuan police task force tracked the traces of the stolen "Fish and Goose Collection" in the hope of finding out the whereabouts of all the stolen cultural relics, including it. After verification, "Fish and Goose Collection" first appeared on the market, which was sold through auction houses in Shanghai in 2005.
Wei Guanghua, police officer of the Jinjiang District Public Security Branch of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau: Then in Shanghai, I learned that there were 10 cultural relics auctioned together with "Fish and Goose Collection", of which 5 were auctioned and 5 were sold.
The shanghai auction house appeared in the 10 cultural relics a few months after the theft of the Sichuan Provincial Library, the special case team suspected that the person who commissioned the auction was most likely related to the case, if the identity of the client is clarified, not only can the case be solved, but also more likely to recover these cultural relics.
Tang Jun, deputy captain of the second investigation team of the Criminal Police Detachment of the Metropolitan Public Security Bureau: We found that in 2005, a person named Liu Decheng was sent for the auction, and then he also left a phone number and some information at that time, and at that time he sent a total of 10 lots, and these 10 lots were then reported to us to the Sichuan Provincial Library, and the library determined that these were stolen items.
The police found that in 2005, the shanghai auction house auctioned five lots, all the money flowed into the bank account of the client, Liu Decheng.
Tang Jun, deputy captain of the second major team of the criminal police detachment of the Metropolitan Public Security Bureau: Then we retrieved the identity information of the person handled by this bank card through the bank, and found that this identity information was also called Liu Decheng, a man from Guizhou, but we inquired through big data in our public security system to determine that this was a false identity, and then the case appeared in this place, and the difficulty of detection suddenly increased.
Fake name commission auction Real identity suspected theft was caught
The Chengdu police tracked the direction of the flow of stolen cultural relics and found out that the client who brought these cultural relics into the trading market for the first time was a man named Liu Decheng. But 16 years ago, he used the first generation of identity cards, and the police found that the number was forged by checking the identity card number, so Liu Decheng's identity was obviously also forged. And when Liu Decheng used this fake identity to go to the bank to handle related business, he did not leave a valid video message. The false name and false identity of the person the police are looking for is unknown and his identity is unknown, and the investigation work is very difficult.
Tang Jun, deputy captain of the second investigation team of the Criminal Police Detachment of the Metropolitan Public Security Bureau: We finally decided to maintain the direction of investigation with the flow of cultural relics, because after all, 10 cultural relics were stolen at a time, of which 5 were sold and 5 were not sold, and we were thinking about where the 5 things that were not traded would appear.
Wei Guanghua, police officer of the Jinjiang District Public Security Bureau of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau: Later, we learned that 5 of them went to Beijing again, and then went to an auction in Beijing Hanhai, in which Liu Decheng used his fake identity to conduct the auction, and the payment was also collected by the bank card he used his ID card.
At this time, the Chengdu police once again adjusted their thinking, since Liu Decheng will be in Shanghai and Beijing for many times to entrust the auction of these stolen cultural relics, will he also entrust other lots at the same time? The police used Liu Decheng as a keyword to search and investigate in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong auction companies, and soon found important clues.
Tang Jun, deputy captain of a large team of the Criminal Police Detachment of the Metropolitan Public Security Bureau: Through inquiries, we found that in 2007, a man named Liu Decheng took a gilded portrait of a boy in that place (a certain auction company in Shanghai). We found the person who handled it at the time, the auctioneer at the time, and he told us that he had an impression of the case, that the auctioneer was a southerner and was relatively strong, but the suspect in this case had already been arrested, and he said that this thing had originally involved a stolen case, and this was also a gilded boy statue stolen by the Hanhai Auction House in Beijing.
The police of the Chengdu Special Case Group learned that the gilded boy entrusted by Liu Decheng to auction in Shanghai looked like a stolen item from an auction company in Beijing. With the help of the Beijing police, the special case team has made an important breakthrough in the investigation.
Wei Guanghua, a police officer of the Jinjiang District Public Security Branch of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau: Then, with the vigorous cooperation of the Beijing police, we reviewed the case file and learned the real identity of Liu Decheng, called Chen Moujun, a native of Deyang, Sichuan.
The task force quickly found out that Chen Moujun had been sentenced to two years in prison in 1985 for stealing television sets and other items in the guest house. In the early years, Chen Moujun was a worker in a motor factory in Deyang, and by the time the police launched an investigation, he had become a well-known local person, holding the title of a member of the Provincial Musicians Association, a member of the Municipal Writers, Calligraphers, Photographers and other associations, and even opened a children's music training institution.
Identification The suspect has a history of theft
The Sichuan police's identification of Chen Moujun's current social identity seems to be far from the case, but his past theft record cannot be ignored. At this time, how to confirm his suspicions, the special case team made some efforts.
Pu Yunyi, instructor of a large team of the second investigation department of the criminal police detachment of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau: We extracted some recent photos of Chen Moujun's life, and then we made a identification of the auction company involved at that time, and some of the managers at that time. Secondly, we also extracted his daily handwriting, because in the auction commission agreement, including some account opening or withdrawals, the suspect's handwriting was left, and we compared it with this Chen Moujun's writing, and the last two handwritings were completely consistent. Therefore, we should almost decide that at least selling this thing should come from Chen Moujun's hand.
On January 28, 2021, the task force captured Chen Moujun in Deyang, Sichuan. In the face of hard evidence, he confessed to the crime of stealing the Sichuan Provincial Library in 2004.
Suspect Chen Moujun: Once I went to the library to read a book, after going up to this building, I saw a door that was not closed, I went in to look at it, there seemed to be a door inside, the door was locked at that time, I went to the street outside to buy a pair of pliers and screwdrivers, cut open the iron sheet (buckle) where the door was locked, went in to look at it, there were some things inside that I thought was OK, I used a bag inside, packed a few things and took them out, and then sold these things.
Pu Yunyi, instructor of a large team of the criminal police detachment of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau: From 2005 to 2011, he sold all these things one after another through various auctions, and all 10 things were sold, and the profit at that time was close to 900,000 yuan.
According to Chen Moujun, while serving his sentence for theft in 1985, he joined the literary and art squad and liked music and engraving. After 2005, he auctioned off these stolen ancient books and cultural relics one after another, and gradually gained his current identity by relying on these illegal benefits.
After the national cultural relics export appraisal Sichuan Station appraisal, the "Fish and Goose Collection" involved in the case is a third-level cultural relic; and the "Golden Guangming Most Victorious King Jing Firmly Divine Product Eighteenth" is a first-class cultural relic, which is a Buddhist scripture copied by the monks of the Tang Dynasty, and the scripture scroll is an important part of the Dunhuang documents found in the Dunhuang Tibetan Scripture Cave.
Let the National Treasure Go Home The special case team carried out a follow-up investigation along the line
The special case team comprehensively carried out a downward investigation of the stolen collections, except for the seizure of the "Fish and Goose Collection", the remaining 9 lots have been transferred through multiple auctions in Beijing, Shanghai and other places, and have successively flowed into the hands of buyers. How to let these national treasures go home, the special case team has carried out a lot of work.
For buyers who had repeatedly transferred their hands to obtain the stolen collections, the public security organs adopted the method of communicating and explaining the suggestions, but fortunately a collector agreed to donate the First Class Cultural Relics of the Tang Dynasty Buddhist Scriptures to the Sichuan Provincial Library. However, the holders of the remaining eight stolen collections refused to return the collections. According to the relevant laws, buyers who purchase cultural relics through the legal channels of auction are bona fide gains, and the national level does not mandate that auction houses bear the responsibility of identifying whether cultural relics are legal, so it is difficult to pursue their legal responsibilities.
Pu Yunyi, instructor of the second investigation team of the criminal police detachment of the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau: As a public security organ, we must make full use of our scientific and technological means to take the initiative to discover some clues related to the crime of cultural relics and cultural relics. Second, our cultural relics departments should actively and timely hand over some clues about cultural relics crimes to the public security organs through their daily inspections. Third, the most important thing is to mobilize the masses of the whole society to actively report to the public security organs all kinds of criminal acts related to the theft and resale of cultural relics.
Stolen cultural relics are well documented There are laws to follow for obtaining cultural relics
In order to provide more solid support for the lawful recovery of stolen and lost cultural relics, on November 16, 2017, the "China Stolen (Lost) Cultural Relics Information Release Platform" jointly established by the Ministry of Public Security and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage was officially launched, collecting information and data on stolen and lost cultural relics since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and releasing them to the public after review, and the cultural relics entered into the platform shall not be traded or exported. So, for ordinary people who love to collect, how to legally and safely obtain cultural relics collections?
Liu Zhenyu, Responsible Appraiser of Calligraphy and Painting at Sichuan Station for the Export appraisal of National Cultural Relics: We citizens mean that cultural relics can be obtained through several legal channels, the first is through legal inheritance and gift, the second is purchased in state-owned cultural relics stores, and the third is in the public auction company through public bidding.
According to the relevant provisions of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics, in addition to these three ways of obtaining cultural relics in accordance with the law, citizens, legal persons or other organizations will be punished by law for illegally obtaining precious cultural relics from state-owned museums and engaging in illegal activities such as possession, transportation and trafficking. According to the relevant person in charge of the Cultural Relics Crime Investigation Department of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, the information of the 8 ancient books and cultural relics that have not been recovered in this case has been entered into the platform, and it is absolutely not allowed to trade and leave the country, and the work of letting the national treasure go home is still in progress.
Source: CCTV News Client