On July 26 federal investigators seized more than $20 million worth of Asian antiquities from Manhattan dealer and gallery owner Subhash Kapoor, who they suspect has been importing looted antiquities from India for several years. The Manhattan district attorney’s office issued a warrant for Kapoor’s arrest on charges of possessing stolen property.
Among the items seized from Kapoor’s Manhattan storage unit was a Chola bronze valued at nearly $2.5 million, as well as Buddha heads, statues of Hindu deities, and other bronze religious sculptures allegedly looted from temples in India. Under India’s 1972 Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, no art object over 100 years old may be removed from the country.
Kapoor is currently in India, where he is being held on similar charges relating to the trafficking in illicit antiquities. He has been under investigation since at least 2007, when Indian authorities first asked U.S. Customs officials for assistance in tracking shipments to New York. In some instances, Kapoor allegedly created false provenances for objects to cover up the fact that they had been stolen.
As is detailed in a New York Times article, authorities are asking American museums to check their inventories for items that were obtained from Kapoor. In the case of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the only listed provenance for such items is the date Kapoor donated them to the museum.
This article was drafted with the assistance of Victoria Sears Goldman. (http://www.victoriasearsgoldman.com/)