US Returns $10M Worth Of Stolen Artifacts To Italy In Repatriation Effort
Image via Homeland Security Investigations New York
The United States has returned 200 looted antiquities to Italy, many of which were believed to have been hawked by a single Rome-based dealer. In total, the relics were worth US$10 million.
The operation was led by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, who confiscated the pieces from prominent museums and private collections across the nation.
Believed to be the largest repatriation of artifacts from the US to Italy to date, the trove consisted of nearly 100 items taken from the Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Art, as well as an Etruscan ceramic vessel from the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
According to Wanted In Rome, the artifacts were seized following an investigation into Edoardo Almagià, a dealer who allegedly used tomb raiders to smuggle priceless art out of Italy over the span of three decades.
An expert testified in Italian court that he relied on a “network of scholars, directors, and curators of the most important international museums” to place the looted works.
“For years, prestigious museums and private collectors across the United States prominently displayed these Italian historical treasures even though their very presence in America constituted evidence of cultural heritage crimes,” said Manhattan District Attorney, Cy Vance, who oversaw the repatriation ceremony.
“The repatriation of this dazzling collection of ancient art begins to address some of the damage done by traffickers and shows the need for all collectors and gallery owners performing due diligence and ensuring pieces they purchased were lawfully acquired,” he added.
Brigadier General Roberto Riccardi, part of the TBC Cultural Heritage Unit of the Carabinieri, who was present at the ceremony to receive the relics, explained that the statutes of limitations in Italy have made it difficult for authorities to prosecute Almagià.
The dealer has denied all allegations thus far, telling The New York Times: “There are thousands of items that travel around the world without papers, and they are only asking for papers now, and in the past they never had such requirements.”
Riccardi returned to Italy with 160 antiquities, while 40 works are now on display at the Italian consulate in New York till March 2022.
#HSINewYork & @ManhattanDA had the privilege to send home more than 200 pieces of stolen history to the gov’t of #Italy, and we will continue to hold traffickers accountable & dismantle these organizations driven by greed. #HSIArtFraud @ItalyinNY
— HSI New York (@HSINewYork) December 16, 2021
Read: https://t.co/YnJf6j50ET pic.twitter.com/Zn5NXmbPNI
[via Wanted In Rome, cover image via Homeland Security Investigations New York]
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