Three men, accused of obtaining and trying to sell around 100 pages of handwritten notes from the Eagles album, Hotel Californiawho knew they had been robbed were charged in New York on Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
Craig Inciardi, 58, Edward Kosinski, 59, were charged with criminal possession of stolen property, while Glenn Horowitz, 66, was charged with attempted murder. All three men have pleaded not guilty.
With the development of the collector’s market, certain pieces that belonged to music or sports stars are being sold more and more.
Documents estimated at more than a million dollars
The hundred pages of notes and lyrics written by Don Henley, one of the founders of the Eagles, for the album Hotel Californiaincluding those of the song of the same name that became a hit, or life in the fast laneThey are estimated at more than a million dollars, writes prosecutor Alvin Bragg in his press release.
“Even though they knew the documents had been stolen,” the three defendants “attempted to sell the manuscripts, fabricated false provenance documents, and lied to auction houses, potential buyers, and law enforcement officials about the material. origin of the documents,” he said. .
One of the defendants, Craig Inciardi, is an employee “with curatorial responsibilities” at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio, the institution confirmed to AFP. “When we became aware of this case, we suspended the employee and called in experienced outside counsel to conduct an internal investigation,” added Rock Hall, assuring that he does not appear in the investigation file.
“Unjust Accusations”
The case dates back to the late 1970s, when an author, hired by the Californian rock band to write their biography, steals the notes. According to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, he ended up selling them in 2005 to Horowitz, a rare book dealer, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski.
Don Henley had tried in vain to retrieve the documents when he learned that the two men had them. But the latter are accused of having fabricated false documents proving legal provenance to force Henley to repurchase them at a high price.
The defendants’ lawyers, on the other hand, spoke of “unjustified accusations”, which they intend to “energetically combat”. “The prosecution sees crimes where there are none and unfairly tarnishes the reputation of respected professionals,” they wrote in a statement sent to AFP.
Source: BFM TV
