Penza, 7 June 2016. PenzaNews. An Uzbekistan citizen accused of stealing 1 million rubles worth of gold jewelry was arrested on way from Tambov to the Penza region.

Photo: 68.mvd.ru

“The Uzbekistan citizen met an acquaintance in one of the Russian regions, who asked him to help with the construction of a house in Tambov. The man invited the foreign citizen into the home, where he provided him food and shelter, but in return he got his jewelry stolen. During the week he had spent in Tambov, the guest noted a large amount of gold jewelry in the house; he collected it in a bag and attempted to escape to the Penza region via taxi,” the press service of the Tambov region Ministry of the Interior department informed PenzaNews.

According to the police, the migrant lacked cash, and so asked the taxi driver to pawn some of the gold jewelry using the latter’s passport, and promised to pay him with some of the money earned this way.

“The pawn shop assistants suspected that the jewelry could have been stolen, and called the police. Several minutes later, a police dispatch detained the foreigner and brought him to the Tambov city department. During the questioning, the police officers realized they helped prevent a theft of 1 million rubles worth of gold jewelry. Dozens of gold items were seized and are now involved in the theft case. The owner of the theft-affected household identified the migrant worker as his acquaintance, and also identified the stolen jewelry,” the police explained.

The Uzbekistan citizen has been detained, and now faces a criminal case under Part 4, Art. 158 of the Criminal Code, “Theft.”

“According to the Migration Service, the foreigner in question violated the migration legislation and was forcefully taken out of Russia two years ago, with a ban to return to the country until 2019. It remains to be seen how the migrant managed to end up in Russia again,” they noted.

According to the police, all gold jewelry will undergo expert evaluation, while the incident evidence is yet to be collected in full.