US returns stolen 'Shiva Triad' and other artefacts worth $3mn to Cambodia, Indonesia
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg mentioned that the antiquities were worth $3 million in total.
On Friday(April 26), New York prosecutors announced that they had given back 30 antiquities to Cambodia and Indonesia. These artefacts, which were illegally obtained and traded by American networks of dealers and traffickers, were estimated to be worth a total of $3 million.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that in two recent ceremonies, 27 pieces were returned to Phnom Penh and three to Jakarta. Among the returned items were a bronze statue of the Hindu god Shiva (known as the "Shiva Triad"), taken from Cambodia, and a stone bas-relief depicting two royal figures from the Majapahit empire (dating from the 13th to 16th century), which was stolen from Indonesia.
Bragg accused Subhash Kapoor, an Indian-American art dealer, and American Nancy Wiener of involvement in the illegal trafficking of antiquities.
Kapoor, alleged to have operated a network trafficking stolen items from Southeast Asia for sale in his Manhattan gallery, has been under investigation by US authorities for over ten years under the name "Hidden Idol."
Arrested in Germany in 2011, Kapoor was extradited to India, where he was tried and sentenced to 13 years in prison in November 2022.
Despite facing charges in the US for conspiracy to traffic stolen art, Kapoor denied any wrongdoing.
"We are continuing to investigate the wide-ranging trafficking networks that... target Southeast Asian antiquities," Bragg said in the statement.
"There is clearly still much more work to do."
Wiener, convicted in 2021 for trafficking stolen art, attempted to sell the bronze Shiva but eventually donated it to the Denver Museum of Art in 2007.
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The antiquity was confiscated by New York courts in 2023.
Under Bragg's leadership, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit has recovered nearly 1,200 items stolen from over 25 countries, valued at more than $250 million.
New York serves as a major hub for trafficking, with various works seized in recent years from institutions such as the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art and from private collectors.
(With inputs from agencies)
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