192 looted antiques worth $3.4M returned to Pakistan

CAIRO – 14 November 2022: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced the return of 192 artifacts, valued at about $3.4 million, to Pakistan. Most of the artifacts were unlawfully possessed.

Upon investigating former Manhattan art dealer Subhash Kapoor, the court sentenced the dealer to 10 years in prison for burglary and illegal export of antiques earlier this month.

"Mehrgarh dolls," some of the earliest examples of figurines created by humans, were among the artifacts returned to Pakistan. Credit: Manhattan District Attorney

“Subhash Kapoor was one of the most prolific antiquities smugglers in the world, but thanks to the work of our specialized investigators and analysts, we have been able to recover thousands of items looted by his network. We will continue to pursue full accountability for Kapoor and his co-conspirators, who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the cultural and historical significance of these monuments," County Prosecutor Alvin Bragg said in a statement according to ArtNews.

Kapoor and his associates often sold the pieces through his Art Of The Past gallery between 2011 and 2022. The DA Bureau and Homeland Security has recovered more than 2,500 items illegally obtained and sold by Kapoor and his network, according to the DA bureau. The total value of the recovered items was estimated to be over $143 million.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office first issued an arrest warrant for Kapoor a decade ago.