1 20 1 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/77763/archive/files/59a470878b4603a43268a6763c8de52f.jpg?Expires=1789603200&Signature=RPMRY-y%7Enm74u-ZEgUB2-BgZDqQTTyyEoUcn095OIIgrERW5ERp4Vh9eDM52ct56500WvNGD3tFjSewO8jdzek1e6hy7TFnDZurV1vVdAqw%7Ex%7Ej4Ix4JH4nsB7Zr4vR4NaL4MIh7IoAu1iomVoCZlrKghNftjUaksrzf5uPOYy%7EeQ8xZm4xhNejjG1Yh1JPIViOWim6gkO03USPUsSdORQr6dzOvvNajugS9W00mefx1SPd29gcMPBt12BV8vJV%7Exzod3-vNiFzsRLUJaXpUb4c7C1WSAbumyE8ISsN8FSjFRuxqbj2DqcfyRlXZVTTR6-1uGZg2tutwtJZW9L2EPQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 8daa1a46e725d9bbdd1c12f02c3e8473 Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Object or Group Name The common English name of the object or group of objects. Michael Steinhardt Collection Sources Reliable sources of information related to the object and its repatriation. Preference to primary sources (court records, documents, archival sources) and authoritative secondary sources (media reports, blogs etc.). For links, use a stable URL via Internet Archive. @ChasingAphrodit The Steinhardt Collection <a href="https://twitter.com/ChasingAphrodit/status/1469377238340562947">https://twitter.com/ChasingAphrodit/status/1469377238340562947</a> D.A. Vance: Michael Steinhardt Surrenders 180 Stolen Antiquities Valued at $70 Million <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211206171902/https://www.manhattanda.org/d-a-vance-michael-steinhardt-surrenders-180-stolen-antiquities-valued-at-70-million/">https://web.archive.org/web/20211206171902/https://www.manhattanda.org/d-a-vance-michael-steinhardt-surrenders-180-stolen-antiquities-valued-at-70-million/</a> Billionaire Investor Michael Steinhardt Is Forced to Surrender $70 Million in Art and Agree Never to Collect Antiquities Again <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/michael-steinhardt-banned-from-acquiring-cultural-antiquities-2044531">https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/michael-steinhardt-banned-from-acquiring-cultural-antiquities-2044531</a> IN THE MATTER OF A GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION INTO A PRIVATE NEW YORK ANTIQUITIES COLLECTOR: STATEMENT OF FACTS <a href="https://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/documents/292/102693/2021-12-06-Steinhardt-Statement-of-Facts-w-Attachments-Filed.pdf">https://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/documents/292/102693/2021-12-06-Steinhardt-Statement-of-Facts-w-Attachments-Filed.pdf</a> Status Completion status of MOLA record. Select from drop-down list: Stub (Needs basic research), Incomplete (Missing key fields), In progress (Has been assigned), Ready for review (Complete; awaiting peer review) and Completed (Ready to publish). Only Completed records are made Public. Ready for review Number of Objects Count of objects reflected in this record. 178 Last Known Price, Valuation or Estimate The most recent reported price, valuation or estimate of the object. Should be displayed in USD, alongside list price in original currency. 67,488,000 Year of Last Price Year of the most recent reported price, valuation or estimate of the object. 2021 Repatriated? Repatriation status of the object. Select from drop-down list. Yes Year Returned Year of the return of the object to its country of origin. 2021 Sending Country Country from which the object was returned during repatriation. Select from drop-down list. USA Returning Entity Institution or individual that returned the object to its country of origin (not a law enforcement agency). Michael Steinhardt Prosecuting Entity The prosecutorial entity involved in the object’s repatriation. Manhattan District Attorney's Office Law Enforcement Entity The law enforcement entities that investigated the object before its repatriation. HSI-NYC Reason for Return Why the object was returned. Select from list: Law enforcement seizure; court ordered civil forfeiture; claim from country of origin; voluntary return absent a forfeiture or claim; or other. Law Enforcement Seizure Documents Link to key records or publications related to the object that are not available online. <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21138685-2021-12-06-steinhardt-statement-of-facts-w-attachments-filed2">https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21138685-2021-12-06-steinhardt-statement-of-facts-w-attachments-filed2</a> <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24244920-2023-06-27-15-51-2021-12-13-to-steinhardt-178p-o">https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24244920-2023-06-27-15-51-2021-12-13-to-steinhardt-178p-o</a> Country of Origin The modern country of origin that this object came from (i.e. where it was found). Select from drop-down list. Italy Lebanon Greece Türkiye Syria Israel Jordan Egypt Bulgaria Culture Ancient culture associated with the object. Various Receiving Country Country that received the object during repatriation. Select from drop-down list. Italy Greece Türkiye Lebanon Bulgaria Egypt Syria Libya Case Summary Narrative summary of the object’s looting, identification by authorities and repatriation. American hedge fund pioneer Michael Steinhardt was among the leading private collectors of antiquities in the United States until December 2021, when he agreed to an unprecedented lifetime ban on buying ancient art to resolve a multi-year criminal investigation brought by the Manhattan District Attorney's Antiquities Trafficking Unit. Steinhardt also agreed to surrender 180 stolen antiquities worth an estimated USD $70 million that "were looted and illegally smuggled out of 11 countries, trafficked by 12 criminal smuggling networks, and lacked verifiable provenance prior to appearing on the international art market," according to New York authorities. The 2021 case was only the latest time Steinhardt had been caught purchasing looted antiquities from well-known traffickers over the years. His 1991 purchase of a looted golden phiale triggered a legal dispute in which Steinhardt unsuccessfully challenged the US government's seizure of the bowl all the way to the Supreme Court, and was followed by several additional seizures of antiquities over the following two decades. The Statement of Facts filed at the conclusion of the 2021 criminal investigation contains a remarkable record of one collector's 40 year buying spree of looted antiquities, detailing the objects, prices and trafficking networks he did business with. "Since at least 1987 Steinhardt has been acquiring and selling antiquities, totaling more than 1,000 antiquities valued at more than USD $200,000,000 at the time of their purchase and doubling in value since," investigators found. Of the 1,000 antiquities that Steinhardt acquired, "only 7.3% had any specific provenance that could be verified by this Office." The Steinhardt criminal investigation began in 2017 when authorities looked into his acquisition of a Bull's Head looted from Sidon that he loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he was a longtime supporter. A series of search warrants served against Steinhardt and his suppliers turned up further evidence that the collector had been purchasing antiquities that were recently looted from Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Libya and Bulgaria, records show. Court records detailed Steinhardt's ties to multiple trafficking networks, including: Giacomo Medici (24 antiquities); Gianfranco Becchina (11 antiquities); Edoardo Almagià (10 antiquities); Robin Symes (12 antiquities); Robert Hecht (45 antiquities); Edward and Samuel Merrin (4 antiquities); Robert Haber (2 antiquities); Eugene Alexander (7 antiquities); Fritz and Harry Bürki (1 antiquity); Gil Chaya (30 antiquities); Rafi Brown (28 antiquities); Pasquale Camera (1 antiquity); George Ortiz (1 antiquity); Noriyoshi Horiuchi (1 antiquity); Michael Ward (1 antiquity); Svyatoslav Konkin (1 antiquity); Axel Gordian Weber (1 antiquity). The criminal investigation ended in 2021 when Steinhardt agreed to enter into a "non-prosecution agreement" with the Manhattan District Attorney's office that allowed him to avoid a criminal trial by accepting a lifetime ban on antiquities collecting and forfeiting 178 objects from his collection valued at nearly USD$70 million. Description of Object(s) Provide a brief description of the object or objects in the record. Among the highlights of the seized objects: A rare Greek kouros, purchased on November 17, 2000 directly from the antiquities trafficker Robert Hecht for USD $2,348,500. Hecht included pictures of the sculpture soon after it was looted. A situla, which surfaced on the art market in October 1995, when Robin Symes sold it to the Beierwaltes for USD $320,000. In 2006, the Beierwaltes consigned it to Phoenix Ancient Art. Steinhardt purchased it in 2009 from Phoenix Ancient Art for USD $250,000. In Symes' archives, prosecutors found photos of the same situla taken in 1995 by the Basel-based Dieter Widmer. It had no handle and was still covered in dirt and encrustations, signs of recent looting. Today valued at USD $320,000, the looted situla will be returned to Italy. An Assyrian Gold Bowl that Svyatoslav (aka Slav) Konkin, a Russian antiquities dealer, hand carried on a flight from Hong Kong to Newark NJ. He was detained by authorities but allowed to deliver the bowl to Steinhardt, who purchased it in July 2000 for USD $150,000. Prosecutors say the bowl had been looted in Nimrud, Iraq, where similar examples have been found. Similar gold objects were stolen from the Baghdad Museum, while others were looted and sold by ISIS. It will be returned to Iraq. A Veiled Head of a Woman that surfaced on the art market on November 10, 2000, when Steinhardt purchased it from Michael Ward for USD $1,200,000. Ward noted it was "possibly from North Africa," had "earthy deposit" and a "clean break" on the neck. Prosecutors say the bust was looted from a tomb in the ancient city of Cyrene, in modern day Libya. Excavations there shut down during unrest in 1999, and looters began sacking the city's ancient tombs. A Togate Figure that Phoenix Ancient Art sold to Steinhardt for USD $800,000 in June 1993, stating it was from "Perusia [sic], Umbria, Italy." Steinhardt later consigned it back to Phoenix for sale. Polaroids found in the archives of Giacomo Medici show the togate with a companion figure, both broken and dirt-encrusted sitting atop an Italian newspaper. The Etruscan inscription along the base suggests it was indeed likely found near Perugia. An Orpheus Mosaic that first surfaced on the art market in 1991, when Robert Haber shipped it from Geneva to the United States for Steinhardt. Steinhardt paid Haber USD $440,000 for the mosaic in Oct 1991 and had it sent to California for restoration. The restorers noted it had been crudely "cut into five sections in order to simplify lifting it from its original site," a Roman villa in Sicily. A polaroid of the mosaic sent to Haber by Geneva shipper Mat Securitas shows it before restoration. A Griffin Cauldron with Stand that Steinhardt purchased in April 2003 from Robert Hecht with no prior provenance for USD $475,000. Other records suggest he paid USD $3,000,000 for the completed piece, which had surfaced in fragments. Photos recovered from Hecht show the cauldron soon after it emerged from a tomb in Lazio, dirt encrusted and broken in two. The Ercolano Fresco, showing Hercules as an infant strangling a snake. This fresco was looted from Herculaneum in 1995, and Steinhardt purchased the fresco for $650,000. The fresco is currently valued at $1 million. (It looks like 51 of these items went back to Italy, remaining are from other countries: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24244920-2023-06-27-15-51-2021-12-13-to-steinhardt-178p-o/) Remaining: Returned to Bulgaria 1 Returned to Libya 1 Returned to Iraq 2 Returned to Egypt 9 Returned to Jordan 9 Returned to Israel 37 Returned to Syria 4 Returned to Türkiye 14 Returned to Greece 47 Returned to Lebanon 2 Object Type Type of object based on its function. Select from drop-down list. Various Object Materials Material(s) that the object or group of objects is made of. Select from drop-down list. Various Creation Date Year this object was created, in years BCE/CE; use circa if presenting a range. Use specific year, decade or century. Various Findspot Approximate site or location where the object was found (i.e. the archaeological provenience). Various Dealer Person(s) who offered the object for sale. Giacomo Medici Gianfranco Becchina Edoardo Almagià Robin Symes Robert Hecht Edward and Samuel Merrin Robert Haber Eugene Alexander Fritz and Harry Bürki Gil Chaya Rafi Brown Pasquale Camera George Ortiz Noriyoshi Horiuchi Michael Ward Svyatoslav Konkin Axel Gordian Weber Criminal Behaviors Alleged Criminal behavior associated with the case. Please select all that apply. Document falsification Modern conflict looting Organized crime Current Location Place where the object is currently held. Provide as much information as possible (Institution, City and Country, when known). Various MOLA Contributor(s) Person(s) who contributed to the information in this record. Anonymous is an acceptable entry. Damien Huffer Jason Felch Peer Reviewed By Person who peer reviewed this record. Jason Felch See Also Additional records within MOLA that are other objects of interest. These are objects related to a larger collection. Breakout records have omitted 2024 Value information and Number of Objects. <a href="https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/1242">Steinhardt Seizures (2018)</a> <a href="https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/1244">Fresco Fragment from Paestum's Tomb 53</a> <a href="https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/1075">Gold Phiale</a><a href="GOLD%20PHIALE"></a> <a href="https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/1262">Sidon Bull's Head</a><a href="https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/1262"></a> Value in 2024 US Dollars Value in 2024 US Dollars, adjusted for inflation. Use inflation calculator here: https://www.oanda.com/currency-converter/en/?from=EUR&to=USD&amount=1 75,880,917 Private Collector Person who acquired the object for their personal collection. Michael Steinhardt Court Case and Number Title of the civil or criminal case and number (e.g. New York v. Subhash Kapoor, CR-022431-19NY). NY v Michael Steinhardt Images Source of the images uploaded to this record. Images should be labeled A, B, C, etc. For links, use a stable URL via Internet Archive. <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/nonprofits-that-benefited-from-michael-steinhardts-dirty-money-need-to-own-up-to-their-complicity">https://www.philanthropy.com/article/nonprofits-that-benefited-from-michael-steinhardts-dirty-money-need-to-own-up-to-their-complicity</a> Research Notes Any additional notes about research questions, issues or further research needed. Other images/records, e.g. <a href="https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-1-2m-antiquity-seized-from-michael-steinhardt-returned-to-the-people-of-libya/">https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-1-2m-antiquity-seized-from-michael-steinhardt-returned-to-the-people-of-libya/</a>; <a href="https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-returns-142-antiquities-valued-at-nearly-14-million-to-the-people-of-italy/">https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-returns-142-antiquities-valued-at-nearly-14-million-to-the-people-of-italy/</a>; <a href="https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-55-antiquities-valued-at-more-than-20-million-repatriated-to-the-people-of-greece/">https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-55-antiquities-valued-at-more-than-20-million-repatriated-to-the-people-of-greece/</a>; <a href="https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-ancient-helmet-likely-belonging-to-philip-of-macedon-returned-to-the-people-of-bulgaria/">https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-ancient-helmet-likely-belonging-to-philip-of-macedon-returned-to-the-people-of-bulgaria/</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/09/steinhardt-panathenaic-amphora-returns.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/09/steinhardt-panathenaic-amphora-returns.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/steinhardt-objects-returning-to-greece.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/steinhardt-objects-returning-to-greece.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/steinhardt-material-to-return-to-turkey.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/steinhardt-material-to-return-to-turkey.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/steinhardt-objects-returning-to-italy.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/steinhardt-objects-returning-to-italy.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/01/steinhardt-head-from-cyrene-returns-to.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/01/steinhardt-head-from-cyrene-returns-to.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/02/steinhardt-returned-to-greece.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/02/steinhardt-returned-to-greece.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/03/steinhardt-helmet-returns-to-bulgaria.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/03/steinhardt-helmet-returns-to-bulgaria.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/michael-steinhardt-and-return-of.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/michael-steinhardt-and-return-of.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/sources-for-returned-michael-steinhardt.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2021/12/sources-for-returned-michael-steinhardt.html</a> <a href="https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/01/steinhardt-antiquities-return-to-turkey.html">https://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2022/01/steinhardt-antiquities-return-to-turkey.html</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael Steinhardt Collection Bulgaria Egypt Greece Italy Lebanon Libya Michael Steinhardt Syria Türkiye