In the courtroom of the Marseille criminal court, a solid gold dish weighing 879 grams, valued at between six and eight million euros, is displayed on the screen.
He sits over the assembly like a star.
With 1400 gold coins, he composed the legendary treasure of Lava, which, for 1700 years, has haunted the shores of southern Corsica.
The object is kept in a secret location, “
safe
” away from greedy covetous people.
For the two days of hearing, a reproduction was made available for the debates.
But during a suspension on Monday, the plaster cast accidentally fell, breaking into several pieces on the ground.
“
No one will ask for restitution
,” quipped Félix Biancamaria’s lawyer, Me Amale Kenbib.
His client seized the real dish while fishing for sea urchins in the summer of 1986, in an idyllic cove north of Ajaccio.
“
I was always taught to touch with my eyes
,” notes an underwater photographer interviewed as a witness.
Felix burned his hands.
He is being prosecuted for “
receiving and detaining maritime cultural property
” and “
smuggling a national treasure
”.
He is accused of having plundered this national maritime heritage asset then tried to resell it, with the complicity of his old friend Jean-Michel Richaud, also on the dock.
Tuesday evening, the prosecution requested two years of suspended prison time and a fine of 150,000 euros against him, 10 months of suspended prison time and a fine of 15,000 euros for his accomplice.
Since his arrest, he has continued to present himself as the lucky owner of an invaluable chance discovery.
For two days, the court navigated through troubled waters, trying to bring out a judicial truth from this vestige of the past with a thousand legends.
Luxury watches, Porsche and crocodile shoes
“
I should point out that I do not have a Corsican accent, it will be continental throughout the hearing,”
says the magistrate of the Marseille city Laure Humeau in the preamble.
However, it is indeed a Corsican affair, with its share of shenanigans, buried secrets and betrayed friendships that is at play here.
In 1995…
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