Crime

Crime news

Former Trump adviser—and Russian state TV commentator—charged with money laundering through art and antiques

Dimitri Simes and his wife Anastasia have been charged with three counts of violating US sanctions, including money laundering through the acquisition of art

Activist and journalist charged with hate crimes over vandalism at Brooklyn Museum leaders’ homes

The charges stem from incidents in June, when activists sprayed red paint on the museum officials’ homes as a pro-Palestine protest

Crime news

US authorities charge three UK nationals in Evolved Apes NFT fraud scheme

The charges, brought by the office of the Attorney for the Southern District of New York, signal a commitment to pursuing wide-ranging cryptocurrency cases

Hackers claim responsibility for Christie's cyberattack and threaten to release client data

The group RansomHub say they are behind the attack that took down the auction house's website earlier this month

Crime news

US authorities return 30 antiquities recovered during trafficking investigations to Cambodia and Indonesia

The antiquities, collectively valued at $3m, include a bronze “Shiva Triad” from Cambodia that the dealer Nancy Wiener donated to the Denver Art Museum after failing to find a buyer for it

UK government should intervene to prevent museum thefts, says expert after reports of missing objects across the country

Art detective Christopher Marinello believes more action is needed after an investigation by the Independent newspaper revealed thefts at the Imperial War Museum, Natural History Museum and others

Crime news

Inigo Philbrick, art dealer who went to prison for fraud, is free

In 2022, Philbrick was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to an $86m fraud

Crime news

Ex-husband of murdered gallerist Brent Sikkema arrested in New York

Daniel Sikkema has been accused of planning and paying for his ex-husband’s murder in Rio de Janeiro

Crime news

Brazilian authorities seeking arrest of Brent Sikkema’s husband for possible role in dealer’s murder

The alleged suspect in the murder has claimed Sikkema’s husband offered him $200,000 to carry out the killing, according to Brazilian media reports

Crime news

Suspect arrested in murder of dealer Brent Sikkema

A detective told local media that police are investigating theft leading to homicide

Crime news

Final suspect in string of art and memorabilia heists that nabbed works by Pollock and Warhol surrenders

All nine suspects in the string of heists, which spanned 20 years, are now in federal custody

Crime news

Kentucky man who defrauded local art organisations gets prison time

The FBI apprehended the man, who took $340,000 from the ArtWorks Community Arts Education Center and Russell County Arts Council, as he disembarked from a cruise ship in 2022

California police officer took bribes from Colombian art dealer for years in exchange for immigration help

A former police officer in California has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes over the course of seven years from an unnamed Colombian gallerist

NFTnews

Former OpenSea employee sentenced to three months in prison in first-ever NFT insider-trading case

Nathaniel Chastain's landmark case has come to a close, setting a new precedent in the realm of digital assets

Crime news

Leon Black faces questions from US Senate Finance Committee over Jeffrey Epstein and his $1bn art collection

The committee chairperson has asked for more details by 1 September about the $158m Black allegedly paid Epstein over the years

'Knife attack' leads to evacuation of the British Museum in London

Police confirm a man was stabbed close to the entrance on Tuesday morning

Crime news

Swiss court sentences former museum cashier for embezzling more than $1m

The 54-year-old woman used ticket-sale tricks at the Fondation Beyeler near Basel to fund luxury cars and holidays

Suspects arrested in theft of gold coins from German museum

The trove stolen from the Kelten Römer Museum near Munich was the biggest Celtic gold find of the 20th century

Crime news

San Francisco gallerist filmed hosing down unhoused woman strikes deal to have battery charges dismissed

Collier Gwin, who was facing up to six months in prison if his case had gone to trial, will complete 35 hours of volunteer work

Claude Lévêque charged with rape and sexual assault of minors

The French neon artist was previously under investigation for allegations dating back to the 1980s

California man on trial for allegedly importing Roman mosaic looted during Syrian civil war to US

Mohamad Yassin Alcharihi is accused of misrepresenting the true value of a mosaic that was looted from Syria in 2015

Italy to open new mafia museum—complete with smells and sounds

The first site in Palermo is scheduled to open this spring

Antiquities trafficking investigator appointed president of Harvard Law Review—a position once held by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Barack Obama

Apsara Iyer says looting of Indian temples was a "wake-up call" to understanding how cultural heritage and crime intersect

‘Glad to see they are scared’: Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova added to Russia’s wanted list for criminals

A performance in which she burns an effigy of Vladimir Putin, and an NFT of a vagina-shaped Virgin Mary are thought to be behind new charges

Crime news

Art collector Myriam Ullens killed outside her home in Belgium, allegedly by her stepson

Ullens was an important collector of contemporary art and, with her husband Guy, opened the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing

Heritageanalysis

Art damaged in Brazil's revolt could become part of a memorial

Attack by far-right supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro has left some works of art beyond repair

Crime news

Ukrainian art dealer found guilty of stealing £1.3m Paul Signac from French museum

Vadym Huzhva handed a five-year sentence for 2018 theft and for stealing four other paintings in France, including a Renoir

Antiquities dealer Ali Aboutaam given 18-month suspended sentence by Geneva court

Decision brings the six-year investigation into the provenance of 15,000 antiquities from Phoenix Ancient Art to an end, with only a handful found to lack proper documentation