Taiwan lags in stopping musical instrument fraud

Is that fine-looking instrument in the window counterfeit? In Taiwan, one would be well-advised to investigate carefully before purchasing an expensive violin.

"A performer is not always qualified to discern the false from the genuine. They can also be cheated. It is important for the government to set up a mechanism such as those in Europe and America to deal with cases of instrument fraud," said DDP lawmaker Duan Yi-kang (段宜康).

Duan made the suggestion because, he said, such a huge amount of money is involved in the sale and trade of instruments.

"In America, there are experts who can confirm the authenticity -- or otherwise -- of a violin. Taiwan's government should learn from this," said Warren Wang (王聖哲), a professional violin and bow maker. Wang said US courts rely on the world's three biggest violin merchants, Charles Bears of the UK, Vatelot of France and Francaise of the US to certify the authenticity of violins.

"How can a defendant be judged in court without an expert capable of attesting to a violin's authenticity?" asked famed Taiwan violinist Chien Min-yen (簡名彥), who claims to have been the victim of fraud eight years ago, when he spent US$200,000 on an instrument he believed to have been made in the nineteenth century by renowned Italian violin maker, Pressenda.

According to Chien, Francaise told him this year that the instrument is a fake and is worth only US$14,000. With the certificate of Herry Dussy, an American merchant, Chien believed that the violin sold to him by a student, Chen Shin-yuan (陳信緣), was a genuine Pressenda.

Chien is currently suing Chen. Cheung Shih-chang (張世昌), a member of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and another unfortunate, was also bamboozled. And according to Cheung, his counterfeit violin was also from Chen Shin-yuan. Cheung alleges that Chen proposed a transaction which involved the exchange of Chen's Guarneri for Cheung's Gagliano.