US authorities have punished a billionaire for owning stolen antiquities, including two from Lebanon

BEIRUT — US authorities on Monday banned a billionaire collector from acquiring any more antiquities after he agreed to surrender 180 stolen artifacts from nearly a dozen countries, including Lebanon.

Here is what we know:

    • Michael Steinhardt, one of the world’s most prominent collectors of antiquities, has surrendered 180 items, valued at $70 million, and accepted a lifetime ban on acquiring more antiquities in an agreement with US prosecutors that will see the parties avoid going to trial, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (also known as the Office of the District Attorney of New York County, New York).

    • The probe into Steinhardt’s holdings began in 2017 when authorities were investigating his possession of a statue of a bull’s head, currently appraised at $12 million, stolen from Lebanon. The investigation eventually extended to 1,000 antiquities and included joint investigations with authorities in 11 countries, including Lebanon.

    • The bull’s head, excavated from the Temple of Eshmun in Saida, was stolen by Kataeb militants in 1981, according to a lawyer at Manhattan District Attorney’s office, after which it disappeared into the black market for decades. It was loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2010, where it’s origins were eventually uncovered by a curator. The artifact, along with a “calf bearer” statue currently valued at $10 million, were repatriated back to Lebanon in 2017, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office told L’Orient Today.

    • Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. said his office made the agreement in part to allow objects to be returned to their countries of origin more quickly, to protect witnesses whose names would have to be released at trial, and to avoid burdening “resource-scarce nations” who would have to participate in the judicial proceedings.

    • In a statement, Steinhardt’s lawyer said his client was lied to by dealers who claimed their artifacts were lawfully acquired. “To the extent these representations were false, Mr. Steinhardt has reserved his rights to seek recompense from the dealers involved,” the lawyer said.

    • Among the other 178 surrendered antiquities are objects from Greece, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. 

Les Etats-unis sanctionnent un milliardaire qui possédait des antiquités volées, dont deux provenant du Liban