The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has repatriated over 30 artifacts linked to smuggling to Spain, Hungary, and Italy
The artifacts were obtained via investigations linked to known art smugglers like Giovanni Becchina, Eugene Alexander, and Giacomo Medici. However, the biggest source for the current cache was smuggler Edoardo Almagià. There is already an outstanding arrest warrant against Almagià pending his extradition from Italy. Reportedly, over 250 objects worth $6 million have been seized from Edoardo Almagià by the DA so far.
A total of 31 objects were repatriated to the mentioned countries. A 1st-century marble bust of Alexander depicting him as sun god Helio, which was unearthed from the Basilica Emilia before being stolen, was returned to Rome in Italy. Hungary received a 1675 Jesuit manuscript, which was stolen during the Second World War, and recovered from a seller of rare books in New York. Several Visigoth pendants, dating back to the 6th century, were repatriated to Spain. These pendants were smuggled by Robin Symes and sold to the Met in the 90s.
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The repatriation comes from the efforts of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU), a special task force formed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 2017. Led by ADA Matthew Bogdanos since its formation, the ATU found great success since DA Alvin Bragg took the helm of the office. This includes the return of 8 artifacts to Peru in May, and repatriation of antiquities worth $2.2 million to Greece and Italy.
