Smuggling

Manhattan District Attorney's Office returns antiquities worth a total of $500,000 to Mexico

The trove of 30 Mesoamerican objects includes a ceremonial trophy for the first ball game

Officials in New York return antiquities worth $14m to Pakistan

Some of the 133 objects being repatriated are associated with the antiquities smugglers Subhash Kapoor and Richard Beale

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

Mysterious Jackson Pollock painting—with hidden message to Lauren Bacall—found in Bulgaria

The painting, which reportedly features a birthday message to the American actress on its back, was seized during a smuggling raid, officials say

Manhattan district attorney returns 187 artefacts tied to disgraced dealer Subhash Kapoor to Pakistan

The objects associated with Kapoor, along with another five pieces returned to Pakistan, were cumulatively valued at $3.4m

Stolen statue linked to antiquities trafficker Doris Wiener repatriated to Cambodia

The sandstone vishnu statue was stolen from a seventh-century temple and smuggled to Manhattan in 1995, when it was sold to a private collector

Disgraced antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor sentenced to ten years in prison by Indian court

The ruling culminates an extensive investigation into a smuggling ring headed by Kapoor

Wanted in the US, Lebanese antiquities collector maintains his innocence, says his ‘big mistake’ was trusting New York art crime official

Lotfi addresses allegations that led to a warrant being issued for his arrest in a statement and interview, giving new details on the extraordinary story of the Metropolitan Museum's gold sarcophagus

Arrest warrant issued for dealer who sold ‘hundreds’ of looted Middle East antiquities—some of which ended up in the Met

Georges Lotfi has been accused of handling the types of materials he helped the police recover and repatriate for years

Iraqnews

British tourist’s 15-year prison sentence for antiquities smuggling overturned by Iraqi appeals court

James Fitton, a 66-year-old retired geologist, had been convicted of antiquities smuggling after taking pottery shards from an ancient site

Pre-Columbian stone artefacts smuggled into Puerto Rico are repatriated to the Dominican Republic

The 12 archaeological objects were seized from a passenger arriving in Puerto Rico by ferry in 2013; they had previously sold in an online auction

Millions of dollars in smuggled antiques repatriated during investigation of disgraced art dealer Subhash Kapoor

Among the works returned to India was a $4m bronze statue of the deity Shiva Nataraja that was stolen in the 1960s from a temple and smuggled into New York

Secrets and lies: the role of restorers in art crime

Regulation of the conservation profession may be a start, but can it quash the “ego” that often motivates restorers-turned-forgers?

New York investigators hand over 27 smuggled art objects valued at $3.8m to Cambodia

Charges are pending against two New York-based antiquities dealers linked to the objects

US returns over 500 smuggled pre-Hispanic-era artefacts to Mexican officials

Tools and other objects were discovered in a national park in southwest Texas, triggering an inquiry

Ten most wanted antiquities: have you seen these missing artefacts?

The Antiquities Coalition releases a list of “infamous cases of cultural racketeering”

Stolen artefacts from 'prolific art smuggler' returned to India

Objects are reportedly linked to antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor who is facing criminal charges in the US

Cambodiaarchive

Light is finally being shed on the issue of restitution of looted art

The restitution of Cambodian statues by major museums and auction houses is an encouraging sign

Cambodiaarchive

Sotheby's Cambodian smuggling saga quietly resolved out of court

The auction house returns statue and is cleared of wrongdoing as federal government drops allegations

The Cambodian art smuggling scandal that’s ready to erupt

The Metropolitan Museum may not be the last institution to return looted sculptures

Cambodiaarchive

Khmer sculpture handed back to Cambodia

An attempt to smuggle it was thwarted in the US

Newsarchive

Arrest warrant for Phoenix Ancient Art director

In 2004, Egypt sentenced Mr Aboutaam in absentia to 15 years’ imprisonment

Art theftarchive

US colonel to lead antiquities anti-theft unit

Bogdanos attacks “cozy cabal of academics, dealers and collectors” who ignore provenance

Lebanesearchive

Lebanese antiquities dealers prosecuted in US and Egypt

Hicham Aboutaam has pleaded guilty in the US to a Customs misdemeanour while his brother, Ali, is seeking to have his conviction by an Egyptian court nullified

Ethicsarchive

Oslo: Buddhism’s “Dead Sea Scrolls” for sale to Norway

Saved from Afghanistan by top collector, the manuscripts pose an ethical problem

MoMA reached settlement agreement with Malevich heirs

The works in question were smuggled out of Germany during the Nazi regime for safe-keeping