Palm beach violinist is arrested for fraud
NewsPolice in Palm Beach have arrested a violinist who played in a shopping mall, stopping passersby to request money for a sick child.
Giovani Radu, 22, from Romania, was found to have no children.
it turned out he made $80,000 last year from busking and kept the money in multiple bank accounts.
He had several license plates and was carrying a knife. The charge sheet is quite long, including fraud.
More here.
Why do we have to read this in “Slipped disc”? ???
Very good question
You might say, why do we need to read a lot of things on “slipped disc”, but maybe without 4 question marks?
But since it has an international readership–I eagerly read it, because over the Xmas holidays I may have given money to this street musician in a shopping mall not very far away from the one mentioned here. I rarely do it because I resent the music, but it is so rare to hear a violinist (electrical) I stood and listened and gave some money. He was not lacking in skill. But mine had children in a car, did look about the same, had a similar sign-so who knows?
Yeah, because the number of question marks a person chooses to use is entirely your business now isn’t it.
OK. An overload of question or exclamation marks can be annoying. Indeed, it is all too easy to get carried away on the internet.
Still, this (sad/painful/realistic…) incident with a Romanian fraudulous violin-busker in Palm Beach has, I think, hardly any “musical” relevance.
The problems caused by criminal Romanian beggar clans is a well known, international fact.
Why?
Slippedisc posts news about people involved in classical music… and this guy is one of them.
No this Romanian guy isn’t one of them. It’s a racket.
Sounds like he hit on a more ethical way to make money from the arts, at least it did not involve bribery and nepotism. Bravo.
Over the years I have had some stand partners who also seemed to be pretending to play the violin. At the very least they were only pretending to tune. They probably never made $80,000 but then, they were wasting their time playing wedding gigs. This guy had the wisdom to beg outside a TJMaxx store – that’s where the real wedding money is.
I’ve never really seen a violist busking. Must be a different revenue model. Cough up the money, or they’ll play something….