In a long-running probe into a stolen art enterprise, us authorities returned roughly 250 antiques to India on Thursday, Manhattan district attorney. Sai Vance jr said this extraordinary assemblage of artifacts recovered from five different criminal investigations over the past decade embodies the timeless cultural and cosmic bridge. Between ancient and modern-day India, thousands of artifacts were smuggled into the united states by trader Subhash Kapoor, who has rejected the charges. Kapoor and his co-defendants were accused of smuggling antiquities into manhattan and selling them through madison avenue. Gallery art of the past, the da’s office and his recovered approximately 2 500 items traffic by Kapoor and his network between 2011 and 2020.
The pieces retrieved are worth more than 143 million united states dollars. In total, authorities said the shiva Nataraja statue was sold by the mother of nancy Weiner, a gallery owner who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possession of stolen goods earlier this month. According to them, nancy Weiner sold and looted pieces to prominent institutions in Australia and Singapore. Subhash Kapoor is an art thief from new york who is currently serving time in jail for allegedly heading 100 million dollars. International smuggling ring Kapoor was detained at frankfurt international airport.
On the 30th of October 2011 and deported to Chennai, India, on the 14th of July 2012, on charges of collecting antiquities taken from defunct temples in southern India; many of these artifacts have been purchased by museums all around the world. Kapoor, for example, sold a dancing shiva bronze figure from the 11th century, Chola period, to the national gallery of Australia for 5.6 million dollars. In 2008, the statue was allegedly stolen from a Tamil Nadu temple. Kapoor traveled the world seeking out antiquities looted from temples, homes and archaeological sites.
Some of the artifacts were recovered from Kapoor’s storage units in new york back in July. Australia’s national gallery also said it would return to the Indian government. Fourteen works of art from its Asian art collection. There are 13 paintings linked to incarcerated art, dealer, Subhash, Kapoor, six bronze or stone sculptures, a brass processional standard, a painted scroll and six pictures worth a total of three million dollars among the items, some of them date back to the Chola period and were acquired By the museum between 1989 and 2009
