via the Lowell Sun, 11 May 2023: US Representative Lori Trahan has asked the US Department of Justice to investigate whether New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is in possession of stolen art, specifically 13 pieces of Southeast Asian Art Gallery 249 sold to the museum by disgraced art dealer Douglas Latchford, and has set a deadline of May 25 for the Met to provide a public accounting of their internal investigation on the provenance of the artifacts, and a commitment to return the pieces to the people of Cambodia if they were stolen.
U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the largest and most prestigious art museums in the world, is in possession of stolen art.
The Met’s Southeast Asian Art Gallery 249 contains 13 pieces that were sold to the museum by disgraced art dealer Douglas Latchford, who was charged in 2019 with wire fraud conspiracy and other crimes related to illegally selling stolen artifacts from Cambodia.
He died in 2020 before the DOJ concluded its case, so the indictment was dismissed.
Trahan is pressing the museum for an update on its internal investigation on the provenance of the artifacts, and she has set a deadline of May 25 for the Met to provide a public accounting of their findings.
“We’ve alerted the DOJ,” Trahan said by phone Thursday afternoon. “My request is very straightforward. I want the results of the Met’s internal investigation to be made public. I’ve asked for a thorough update on its investigation, a deadline to make a determination on the provenance of these artifacts, and a commitment from the Met to return the pieces to the people of Cambodia if they were stolen.”
The representative was named co-chair of the Congressional Cambodia Caucus in January, and said her work on the caucus is informed by the Cambodian-American residents in the 3rd Congressional District.
Source: Lori Trahan asks DOJ to investigate Met’s Cambodian artifacts
