California violin thief who stole $300k of violins and bows sentenced to four years in prison

31 March 2025, 13:07

A man who fiddled his way into stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of instruments has been sentenced.

A man who pretended to be an instrument collector in order to steal over $300,000 of violins and bows has been sentenced to 46 months in prison.

Mark Meng, from California, also robbed a bank and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of bank robbery.

Between August 2020 and April 2023, Meng posed as an instrument collector and asked shops to loan him valuable violins for trial periods. He would then send the owners cheques he knew would bounce, ask for loan extensions or pretend that he had posted the instruments back and they had been lost in the process.

He in fact kept all the instruments and sold them to a violin dealer in Los Angeles who was unaware of the criminal scheme.

Read more: The 20 best violin pieces ever written

The five instruments he stole ranged in value, with the most expensive being an 1823 Lorenzo Ventapane violin that was valued at $175,000.

Other instruments included a Giulio Degani violin worth $55,000, a Caressa & Français violin valued at $40,000, a Gand & Bernardel violin from 1870 worth $60,000 and a Français Lotte violin bow, stamped ‘Lupot,’ that was valued at $7,500.

The FBI Art Crime Team became aware of the thefts and, once Meng realised this, he robbed a bank in Irvine, California. He entered the bank wearing a hat, sunglasses and a bandana across his face, and passed a note to the bank cashier that said: “$18,000. – Withdraw. Please. Stay Cool! No harm. Thx.”

The cashier did not have access to that amount of money, and only handed over $446, after which Meng fled the bank in a white minivan that was then traced back to his home address.

He will face a restitution hearing in June 2025, where the court will determine how much Meng must pay in compensation.