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Famous arts gallery owner robbed in Moscow, stripped of 100,000 rubles

The detectives do not rule out that the criminals might have been tracking Gelman right from the doors of the banks

MOSCOW, December 5 (Itar-Tass) – Unknown criminals have robbed the famous Russian arts gallery owner Marat Gelman in Moscow, stealing from him a bag where he had put 100,000 rubles /USD 1=RUB 30.8/ in cash.

A source at the Moscow City Interior Department told Itar-Tass the robbery occurred on the downtown Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. The malefactors attacked Gelman, who had withdrawn some monies from a bank for paying up a New Year trip, and made a getaway in a car.

Gelman said he had taken the money from a safe-deposit box at the bank and went to one of the outlets of the Coffee House chain.

He took a seat at the table at around 7 p.m. and was sitting with his back to the robbers. At a certain moment, they walked up to him and ripped the bag off him.

“Gelman has already submitted a written report to the police and the operatives are currently exempting the video footage from CCTV cameras and considering the institution of a criminal case,” the police source said.

The detectives do not rule out that the criminals might have been tracking Gelman right from the doors of the banks.

Gelman is a famous collector of contemporary arts and the founder of the Marat Gelman Gallery. Also, he is the director of a Center of Contemporary Arts.