via the Department of Justice, Southern District of New York, 11 January 2022: The New York Department of Justice will seize and repatriate 35 antiquities from a private collector linked to antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ricky J. Patel, the Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Department of Homeland Security (“HSI”), announced today the filing of a civil complaint seeking forfeiture of 35 Cambodian and Southeast Asian antiquities from a private American collection for the purpose of returning the antiquities to their countries of origin. Antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford sold the collection to its present owner (the “Collector”) with false statements and fake provenance documents intended to hide the fact that the antiquities were the products of looting, and then imported the antiquities through lies on customs paperwork. The Collector has voluntarily relinquished possession of the antiquities.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “This Office continues to trace and recover the many stolen cultural treasures that Douglas Latchford sold and scattered far from their home countries. Through this action, the United States reaffirms its commitment to redressing the wrongs committed by Latchford and other looters who would exploit and profit from the pain and disruption of war.”
Ricky J. Patel, HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge said: “For years, Douglas Latchford operated an illegitimate enterprise by smuggling looted antiquities into the United States with blatant disregard for U.S. Customs laws. Latchford facilitated this by falsifying customs documentation and providing deceptive paperwork to collectors for sale on the international art market. Today, we are pleased to see that 35 pieces of cultural property will be repatriated to their rightful setting. HSI New York will not rest in its efforts to locate all the antiquities related to Latchford’s fraud and see that each piece of history is not just found, but sent home.”
