Manhattan DA announces Return of Antiquities to Indonesia and Türkiye

The objects were recovered pursuant to criminal investigations into multiple antiquities trafficking networks, including those run by alleged trafficker Subhash Kapoor and convicted trafficker Robin Symes.

“I am grateful to the hard work of our prosecutors and investigators to track down these objects and return them to where they belong. It speaks to the extraordinary collaboration and partnership our Office has with countries all across the world who are seeking to reclaim their stolen cultural heritage,” said District Attorney Bragg.

“My highest appreciation to New York County District Attorney’s Office and their team for their dedication and hard work in upholding justice and law, so that these cultural objects can be returned to its rightful owner, the Indonesia people,” said Winanto Adi, Consul General of Indonesia.

“Each case in which Türkiye works together with the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and with Homeland Security Investigations stands as a testament to the importance of international cooperation in protecting cultural heritage through the pursuit of justice. Türkiye deeply appreciates all the hard work involved and remains committed to continuing this collaboration with the same dedication,” said Ambassador Muhittin Ahmet Yazal, Consul General of Türkiye.

For almost 15 years, the District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU), along with law-enforcement partners, have investigated Kapoor and his alleged co-conspirators for the alleged illegal looting, exportation, and sale of artifacts from numerous countries in South and Southeast Asia. The D.A.’s Office obtained an arrest warrant for Kapoor in 2012 and his extradition from India is pending. To date, the investigation has led to the convictions of five individuals and the pending extradition of five others.

Robin Symes was a London-based trafficker who passed away in 2023. Over the course of the investigation into Symes, the ATU has seized 139 objects, valued at more than $60 million, that had been previously trafficked by Symes into and through New York County.

During District Attorney Bragg’s tenure, the ATU has recovered more than 2,360 antiquities stolen from 43 countries, valued at more than $255 million. Since its creation, the ATU has convicted 17 individuals of cultural property-related crimes, recovered more than 6,050 antiquities valued at more than $475 million, and has returned almost 5,650 of them so far to 30 countries.