05/26/2023, Friday, 09:20
A collection of silver thalers and a gold seal ring were also among the archaeological finds worth nearly HUF 20 million.
The man in his forties and his son in his twenties have had metal detectors since 2015, although they did not have the necessary official license to use them. Still, father and son for almost five years they visited various small settlements in Somogy, such as Kercseliget, Böhönye, Mernye, Szenta and Nagyberki, on weekends and sometimes on non-working days, searching for archaeological finds. The defendants kept part of the found objects and sold the other part.
In this way, a collection of 44 medieval silver thalers worth more than HUF 12 million, a XIV. century gold signet ring and many other archaeological finds of lesser value, such as bronze utensils, jewelry and coins were also stolen
The father must also answer to the court because during the search of his residence, the investigators found a firearm held without a license. Since 2019, the third companion of the defendants, also using a metal detector without a permit, found and appropriated an archaeological find worth nearly HUF 200,000 in the vicinity of Beleg. The Nagyatád District Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against them for the crime of theft of a significant value, business-like and continuous, and other crimes.
In its indictment submitted to the Magistrate’s Court in Nagyatád, the prosecutor’s office proposed that the father and son be sentenced to prison and banned from public affairs, while their partner should be sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, with the court also imposing a fine on all defendants and ordering the confiscation of assets.
