Palm beach violinist is arrested for fraud

Palm beach violinist is arrested for fraud

News

norman lebrecht

January 04, 2023

Police 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.

Comments

  • Peter X says:

    Why do we have to read this in “Slipped disc”? ???

    • Larry says:

      Very good question

    • Marshall says:

      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?

      • Anon says:

        Yeah, because the number of question marks a person chooses to use is entirely your business now isn’t it.

      • Peter X says:

        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.

    • Robert Holmén says:

      Why?

      Slippedisc posts news about people involved in classical music… and this guy is one of them.

  • Lolanova says:

    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.

  • David K. Nelson says:

    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.

  • Fred Funk says:

    I’ve never really seen a violist busking. Must be a different revenue model. Cough up the money, or they’ll play something….

  • MOST READ TODAY: