NEW YORK — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the return of 1,440 antiquities collectively valued at $10 million to the People of India.
The pieces were recovered pursuant to several ongoing investigations into criminal trafficking networks, including those of alleged antiquities trafficker Subhash Kapoor and convicted trafficker Nancy Wiener. The pieces were returned during a ceremony with Manish Kulhary from the Consulate General of India in New York.
“Today’s repatriation marks another victory in what has been a multi-year, international investigation into antiquities trafficked by one of history’s most prolific offenders. HSI New York and our colleagues at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have worked tirelessly with our partners in India and beyond to disrupt and dismantle the smuggling networks and in turn recover these invaluable pieces,” said Walker. “While our work continues, we remain resolute in our commitment to safeguard against the plundering of antiquities and guarantee that those who seek to gain from these heinous acts are held fully accountable.”
Walker thanked the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit for their continued investigative collaboration.
“We will continue to investigate the many trafficking networks that have targeted Indian cultural heritage,” said Bragg. “I thank our team of prosecutors and analysts, along with our partners at HSI, for their continued commitment to returning stolen and looted artifacts.”
Among the pieces returned Nov. 13:
A sandstone sculpture depicting a Celestial Dancer, which was looted from a temple in Madhya Pradesh, India, in the early 1980’s. While prying the delicately carved statue from the temple pillar it once adorned, looters cleaved the Celestial Dancer into two halves to facilitate its smuggling and illicit sale. By February 1992, the two halves were illegally imported from London into New York and professionally reassembled.
The Tanesar Mother Goddess, carved from green-gray schist and looted from the village of Tanesara-Mahadeva in Rajasthan, India. First documented in the late 1950s by an Indian archaeologist along with 11 other sculptures of mother goddesses, the Tanesar Mother Goddess and her fellow mother goddesses were stolen one evening in the early 1960s.
Kapoor’s extradition from India, where he was convicted for his trafficking activities in 2022, is pending. The investigation has led to the convictions of five individuals.
HSI New York special agents within the Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities (CPAA) Group work closely with foreign governments to conduct joint investigations to pursue and combat transnational organized crime related to the illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts, by targeting high priority organizations and strengthening international law enforcement partnerships.
Since 2009, HSI has repatriated over 20,000 objects to more than 40 countries worldwide. In addition to its work facilitating repatriations, HSI CPAA continues to execute its mission to investigate leads, work alongside partners, and pursue individuals and networks engaged in the trafficking of cultural property, art, and antiquities.
Members of the public who have information about the illicit distribution of cultural property, as well as the illegal trafficking of artwork, should call the toll-free HSI Tip Line at 1-877-4-HSI-TIP.