Pictured: Professor Mateja Marinkovic, a former Royal Academy of Music associate
A suburban music teacher has won her court battle against a world-renowned classical musician over an £80,000 antique violin he allegedly offered to buy from her with cash hidden inside a piano in Belgrade.
Ruzica West, 38, sued Royal Academy violinist Professor Mateja Marinkovic for breach of contract after he bought her 250-year-old violin below its estimated value.
Prof Marinkovic was supposed to pay Miss West, an Ilford music teacher, £40,000 plus a 19th-century French violin worth £14,000 for her antique Landolfi when she was desperate for money in 2016.
Instead, Miss West claimed she was short-changed because the French violin was valued after the deal at just £1,500.
Prof Mateja Marinkovic performing in 2009
Credit: Champion News
When a cash-strapped student at the Royal Academy of Music decided to sell her prized violin for much-needed funds, she immediately turned to her professor to get the best possible deal.
But the 18th century Landolfi instrument sold by Ruzica West to her mentor Mateja Marinkovic in 2016 signalled the start of a five-year legal row amid claims she was shortchanged.
Prof Marinkovic, an acclaimed violinist who has performed at the Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall, was accused of a breach of contract after Miss West received only £26,000 in cash from a deal she believed was worth around £40,000.
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