Manhattan D.A. Bragg announces Return of 11 Antiquities to Greece

The objects were recovered pursuant to several criminal investigations, including one into previously convicted London-based trafficker Robin Symes, who passed away in 2023. Throughout the ongoing investigation into Symes, the Office’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit has seized 121 antiquities valued at more than $56 million that had allegedly been trafficked by Symes into and through New York County. The objects were returned at a repatriation ceremony with Greece’s Minister of Culture Dr. Lina Mendoni and the Consul General of Greece, Ifigeneia Kanara. 

“The return of these pieces is the product of a substantial and ongoing investigation into several traffickers,” said District Attorney Bragg. “I am pleased we have now seized more than 120 antiquities throughout the investigation, and that is continuing to this day. I am grateful to our antiquities trafficking team and partners in Greece for their outstanding collaboration and partnership.”

Key pieces being repatriated today include: The Grave Relief dates to the late 4^th-early 3^rd century BCE, and depicts a deceased individual surrounded by his family at a lavish banquet. The Grave Relief was smuggled out of Greece and next surfaced on the international art market in Symes’s possession, alongside other trafficked Mediterranean antiquities. The Relief was seized by the ATU in 2025.

The Mortar with Lid and Pestle are a group of carved Roman-era marble implements that were inspired by earlier Cycladic styles. Their small size and expensive stone suggest the implements were once used to handle precious substances rather than for daily use. This group was smuggled out of Greece and eventually passed to a New York-based antiquities dealer. The Mortar with Lid and Pestle were seized by the ATU in 2025.

During District Attorney Bragg’s tenure, the ATU has recovered more than 2,225 antiquities stolen from 39 countries and valued at $250 million. Since its creation, the ATU has recovered almost 6,000 antiquities valued at more than $460 million and has returned more than 5,400 of them to 29 countries.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Senior Trial Counsel, conducted the investigations, assisted by Investigative Analysts Charlotte Looram and Michael Chapin; District Attorney Investigator John Paul Labbat; and Special Agent Robert Mancene of Homeland Security Investigations.