The New York district attorney is accusing two prominent art dealers of illegally trafficking $3 million in antiquities.
Prosecutors in New York City have announced that they have returned to Cambodia and Indonesia 30 antiques that were looted, sold or illegally transferred by networks of American antique dealers and smugglers.
The antiques had a total value of $3 million, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Friday.
Bragg said he returned 27 pieces to Phnom Penh and three to Jakarta in two recent repatriation ceremonies, including a bronze statue of the Hindu deity Shiva looted from Cambodia and a stone bas-relief sculpture of two royal figures from the Majapahit Empire, which existed between the 13th and 16th centuries and Indonesia was stolen.
Bragg accused American art dealers Subhash Kapoor and Nancy Wiener of being involved in the illegal antiquities trade.
Indian-American Kapoor – who was accused of running a network that smuggled stolen items in Southeast Asia and offered them for sale in his Manhattan gallery – has been the target of a US judicial investigation called “Hidden Idol” for more than a decade.
Kapoor was arrested in Germany in 2011 and then sent to India, where he stood trial and was sentenced to 13 years in prison in November 2022.
Responding to a US indictment on charges of conspiring to traffic stolen works of art, Kapoor denied the allegations.
Important hub for human trafficking
New York is a major hub for stolen and looted antiquities, and in recent years several works have been confiscated from museums, including the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art, and private collectors.
“We continue to investigate the extensive trading networks that … target antiquities from Southeast Asia,” Bragg said in the statement.
“There is obviously still a lot of work to be done.”
Wiener, who was convicted in 2021 of trafficking in stolen artwork, wanted to sell the bronze Shiva statue but ended up donating the piece to the Denver Museum of Art in Colorado in 2007.
The antique was confiscated by the New York courts in 2023.
Cambodia’s ambassador to the U.S., Keo Chhea, welcomed the return of the artifacts, calling it “a renewal of commitment between nations to protect the soul of our shared heritage.”
“Through this collective effort, we are ensuring the preservation of our collective past for future generations,” he said in the New York District Attorney’s statement.
Indonesia’s representative in New York, Consul General Winanto Adi, also praised Bragg’s efforts, saying they were a “precious gift” as the United States and Indonesia celebrated the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.