Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the return of 307 antiquities valued at nearly $4 million to the people of India.
According to the DA’s office, 235 of the antiquities were seized pursuant to the Office’s investigation into Subhash Kapoor, a prolific looter who helped traffic items from Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other countries. Five of the antiquities were seized pursuant to the Office’s investigation into Nancy Wiener, and one pursuant to an investigation into Nayef Homsi.
“We are proud to return hundreds of stunning pieces back to the people of India,” said District Attorney Bragg. “These antiquities were stolen by multiple complex and sophisticated trafficking rings – the leaders of which showed no regard for the cultural or historical significance of these objects. Tracking down these antiquities would not be possible without the collaboration of our law enforcement partners at HSI and the outstanding work of our world-class investigators.
An arrest warrant was issued for Kapoor in 2012, and in November 2019, Kapoor and his seven co-defendants were indicted for their conspiracy to traffic stolen antiquities. In July 2020, the DA’s Office filed extradition paperwork for Kapoor, who has been in prison in India since 2012 pending the completion of his ongoing trial. Five of Kapoor’s co-defendants have already been convicted.
Beginning in the 1960s, Doris Wiener dealt and trafficked in South Asian antiquities through her gallery in New York County. Known for taking “shopping trips,” where she would travel through South Asia to select stolen antiquities that would later be smuggled into New York, Doris Wiener also sold antiquities with her daughter, Nancy, until Doris’s death in 2011. Nancy Wiener was arrested in 2016 by this Office and convicted and sentenced in 2021.
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