133 antiques worth 14 million US dollars. Returned to Pakistan after investigation

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office recently announced the return of 133 antiquities “worth a total of $14 million” to Pakistan after they were seized as part of multiple investigations into human trafficking networks.

The press release specifically mentioned Subhash Kapoor and Richard Beale, both of whom were previously charged with art trafficking. The items were returned during a ceremony attended by Consul General Aamer Ahmed Atozai and a special agent from the New York Office of Homeland Security Investigations.

“These artifacts will now be returned to where they belong. This repatriation is more than the return of physical objects; it is the restoration of part of the soul and identity of Pakistan,” Atozai said in a press release.

The returned items include a Gold coin “Strato I” From ca. 105–85 B.C. According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Beale attempted to smuggle the coin into the United States through John F. Kennedy Airport, leading to its seizure in 2023. Beale was arrested in New York last January on multiple charges related to the sale of an ancient coin worth millions of dollars. Before his arrest over the Eid Mar (Ides of March) coin, Beale was the owner and manager of Roma Numismatics, a London-based auction house that dealt in ancient coins. Beale and Italo Vecchi were convicted of crimes related to the antiques trade in August last year.

The other highlighted object being returned to Pakistan is an intricately carved stone head of a bodhisattva wearing a lotus flower headdress from the 2nd or 3rd century. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said the stone head was recovered from a storage facility “allegedly hidden by Kapoor.”

Kapoor, the former owner of the Art of the Past gallery on Madison Avenue, is the subject of a long-running investigation by the DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Homeland Security Investigations into the sale of looted antiques. Between 2011 and 2023, authorities seized more than 2,500 items with an estimated value of more than $143 million.

A Homeland Security official called Kapoor “one of the most prolific commodity smugglers in the world.” The DA’s office obtained an arrest warrant for Kapoor in 2012, and he was indicted in November 2019. Kapoor was sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Indian court in 2022 and is currently pending extradition from India.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office did not respond to requests for comment ARTnews about the other items confiscated and where they would be sent.