RIN:24 Criminal Racket and Snare?

This question -- Has the Violin business become a criminal racket and a snare? -- is increasingly being answered in the affirmative by professional VIOLINMAKER-DEALERS and by the public as well. There has been a general loss of confidence among musicians, students, and their parents. What is the cause of such doubt? Recent exposures of ethically questionable practices tell the story. These practices are most notably associated with one particular type of violin dealer, the MUSICIAN-DEALER -- that is , a violin dealer without professional training in the arts of violin making and restoring, and without an understanding of the ethics of either.

2. Sometimes with the tacit collaboration of many highly prominent musicians and teachers, the MUSICIAN-DEALER has developed very secret and profitable merchandising methods. The same kind of MUSICIAN-DEALER has also evolved shop practices and "ethics" which are in stark contrast to those commonly respected and followed by most VIOLINMAKER-DEALERS. Especially since the "KANDA" scandal (now infamous) which shook the violin business in 1981, it has become imperative to contrast and differentiate between:

· the professional VIOLINMAKER-RESTORER-DEALER,
· the MUSICIAN who happens to deal in violins and bows.

3. The tip of the proverbial iceberg of corruption, indeed the textbook example of changing ethics and practices, was the eruption of this scandal in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Yuko Kanda -- one of Japan’s most prominent and enterprising MUSICIAN-DEALERS -- was arrested and charged by police as a perpetrator in this scandal of forgery and bribery. Moreover, Mr. Kanda (of Kanda & Co.) had accomplices. One of them, arrested and charged as such, was Mr. Yoshio Unno -- the internationally renowned violinist and Professor of Music at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Geidai), Japan’s most prestigious institution of the arts.

4. The "Kanda" scandal had a sobering effect upon the violin business, largely because of extensive coverage given it by European and Asian news media. One of the most informative and descriptive articles on the scandal appeared in the Times of London (May 22, 1982;p. 12). Copies of this article-Geraldine Norman’s "Many a New Fiddle" -- were sent to all members of the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers. Though for obvious reasons shirking the full dimensions of the challenge, the Strad magazine (July, 1982; p. 178) did actually report: "The scandal has apparently reached such proportions that there has been a general loss of confidence by Japanese musicians in what they are being offered. The Japanese press is interested in finding out if these are worldwide practices."

5. Detailed reports by other writers on this subject, along with extensive coverage by The Japan Times, provide a colorful mosaic of fraud, deception, and ignorance -- all held together by pervasive and powerful strands of ordinary greed.

6. Established through the resources of Interpol., the F.B.I., and Japanese police, the following facts of the scandal at least highlight portions of the repulsive fabric -- the horrifying distortion of once-accepted ethical norms:0

· BRIBERY
7. The MUSICIAN-DEALER Mr. Kanda cultivated a covert business relationship with Professor Unno and other members of the String Faculty at the University. How? By using handsome kickbacks of cash and valuable bows to lubricate faculty members’ enthusiastic approval of his sales of high-priced instruments and bows to the University and its students.

· FORGERY
8. The MUSICIAN-DEALER Mr. Kanda dealt in and forger "Certificates of Authenticity" bearing the highly respected names of W.E. Hill & Sons of London, and of Rembert Wurlitzer, Inc. of New York. Hill and Wurlitzer are, both, VIOLINMAKER-DEALERS of internationally recognized expertise. Many of there facsimile certificates now accompany instruments circulating in Europe, the U.S.A., and Japan.

· DECEPTION
9. The MUSICIAN-DEALER Mr. Kanda bought and sold primarily worn out violins -- violins which were at times authentic but physically emasculated in the repair shops of MUSICIAN-DEALERS, through a heinous process of "Enhanced Natural Decay" or E.N.D. END is a bitterly appropriate name for this treatment! For E.N.D. is an irreversible, camouflaged shop process which causes a temporary increase of resonance. The terminal effects of artificially accelerated physical deterioration are double: increased tonal and functional problems, plus a correspondingly dramatic loss in the value of the violin as an object of art and as an investment.

· IGNORANCE
10. Predictably, Professor Unno and his ten-member purchasing panel -- responsible for acquiring fine stringed instruments at the University -- were unable to notice tonal differences between high-priced, genuine Italian violins ($20,000 and up) and a considerable number of old, deteriorating violins of ordinary commercial make. These bore fake Italian labels and carried forged "Certificates of Authenticity" -- neither of which could possibly affect the sound of an instrument!

11. Yet the auditors, Professor Unno and his colleagues on the panel, were probably the most competent and esteemed group of string teaching experts in all of Japan.

· FRAUD
12. Mr. Kanda was also accused of conspiracy to defraud insurance companies. Another accomplice was accused along with him; in this case, the accused accomplice was Kataro Nakumara, President of another elite institution -- The Tokyo Imperial Music Academy. The bungled scheme involved Mr. Nakumara reporting the supposed "theft" of five very expensive, rare violins -- instruments the Academy originally purchased (at high cost) from Mr. Kanda. In the original purchase, Mr. Kanda enjoyed the prominent assistance of his partner -- namely, the bilking President, Mr. Nakumara. The "stolen" violins were highly insured. Yet they were, in reality, only cheap, ordinary, old violins accompanied by prestigious "Certificates of Authenticity" which had been forged and faked by Mr. Kanda. (These certificates ascribed famous makers’ names to the quite unexceptional instruments.)

13. Are such greed-inspired distortions of ethical norms -- such instances of bribery, forgery, deception, ignorance, and fraud -- worldwide in their scope? This is the question asked by the Japanese press. And, in communications with colleagues in Europe and the U.S.A., a decision has been make to address this question. By facing the question directly, I and my fellow VIOLINMAKER-DEALERS intend to give the public real information with which to make educated choices when seeking to purchase instruments, bows, repair services, and expert advice.

14. In the eyes of many of my colleagues, Chicago, U.S.A., lives up to its name’s original meaning -- "place of bad smell" -- since it bears the onus of practices much like those marking the "KANDA" scandal. The scandal, showing some mild forms of what appears to be the "Chicago strain" of greed, is a costly disease -- rarely diagnosed correctly by its victims and never revealed to the public by its perpetrators and developers. Its wholesale manifestation began, to a large degree, with "creative" shop and business practices. These business practices have, today, been greatly "refined" through the efforts of generations of MUSICIAN-DEALERS -- dealers who probably trace their infectious practices back to the historical and environmental setting in Chicago.

15. With the active, informational support of other VIOLINMAKER-DEALERS -- colleagues in the truest sense -- Reuter’s Focus Report will publish a series of articles. This series, "Chicago Flim Flam, Fiddle Scams, and Other Esoteric Stories," will center on the following topics:

16. Bribery of Teachers: There will be excerpts from an essay of Hans Weisshaar; it will explain his personal moral philosophy on bribery and business success. It will treat current methods, rates, and types of bribes or kickbacks paid to teachers and others in the U.S.A -- by MUSICIAN-DEALERS especially. And it will ask, for what ingrained practice is the "professional discount" a metaphor? How does the buyer know if anyone is paid a kickback on his purchase?

17. Forgery of Certificates: This topic involves many important questions. A forgery-proof certificate should contain what information? Who, today , writes certificates having the greatest international currency or value? What types of certifications are needed to assure authenticity and condition when one is buying or selling a stringed instrument of bow?

18. Deceiving of Buyers: This topic also considers issues having great impact. By what malpractice do many stringed instruments lose their value while inside of repair shops? As for unethical repairs and alterations, what are they? How can a buyer tell whether or not he has been "taken"? And just what are the "creative" sales practices of Chicago’s MUSICIAN-DEALERS?

19. Ignorance of Buyers: At least one article in the series will expose the "Big Lie" and great hoax of the violin business. What is the "Big Lie"? Who propagates and supports it? And Why? For most instruments and Bows, what is the ratio of cash value to both consignment value and insured replacement value? Indeed, how arbitrary are sales prices for the instruments and bows sold by MUSICIAN-DEALERS? What is the true monetary value of your instrument or bow -- and what determines it? The "Liebhaber" price, who pays it?

20. Insurance Fraud: The questions raised here make a big difference for all who own, or someday hope to own, an instrument of even moderate value. How gullible are most insurance companies? Why will insurance premiums rise substantially in the near future? What investment news will cause many insured instruments and bows to be "stolen" or destroyed? What serious damage to, and depreciation of, your instrument has never been reimbursed by any insurance company? Who writes the highest value insurance appraisals?

21. "Chicago Flim Flam, Fiddle Scams, and Other Esoteric Stories" -- an exclusive from Reuter’s Focus Report -will treat many other topics in addition. There will be profiles of instrument dealers, as well as of contemporary violin and bow makers and restorers -- and profiles, too, of their professional associations, both within the U.S.A and in foreign countries. There also will be articles such as "The E.N.D. Process: The Final Solution, Chicago Style" and "The Chicago Short Cut: Creative Merchandising of Sound Through Bribery." Much "hidden" information will be opened up to the public. Depreciation schedules, and the procedures followed in making appraisals, will be discussed -- as will the "beauty" of sound as a psycho-acoustical experience. In addition, there will be information which explains the basic value components of a violin and bow. Finally, book reviews and numerous "exclusives" will keep readers entertained -- and informed.

22. In its own way, "Chicago Flim Flam, Fiddle Scams, and Other Esoteric Stories" will expose and explore the real professional-ethical questions the "KANDA" scandal has brought to world attention. Most importantly, every feature and every article will be a public service --

a contribution to broader understanding of the VIOLINMAKER-DEALER’s professional-ethical standards and commitments.
a source of practical information for the entire musical community.

RIN:024	homepage: www.fritz-reuter.com	.
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