American billionaire Michael H. Steinhardt has agreed to surrender 180 items from his rare art and antique collection believed to be worth more than $70 million. The hedge fund pioneer, and one of the country's most prolific antiques collectors, has also been banned from acquiring any new pieces.
The Manhattan district attorney's office said Monday that Steinhardt has agreed to settle the four-year investigation against him by voluntarily surrendering the items. Authorities claimed that the items had been stolen, looted, or smuggled from more than 11 countries by around 12 illegal antique traders around the world without proper paperwork.
The items that Steinhardt surrendered included a 400 B.C ceremonial rhyton, a 1200 B.C. larnax, a golden bowl from Iraq, and three stone death masks from Israel.
District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said they have been following Steinhardt for years as he bought rare artifacts without any concern about where they had come from or how they had been acquired. He added that in some cases, the way the items were acquired had caused "grevious cultural damage."
Apart from surrendering the items, part of the agreement will be barring the billionaire from buying any antiques and artworks for the rest of his life.
Steinhardt's lawyer, Andrew J. Levander, said on Monday that his client is pleased with the agreement and the conclusion of the investigation. He acknowledged that some of the items were wrongfully taken or acquired and they should be returned to their native countries. Levander added that in some cases, the suppliers of the antiques had misrepresented themselves to be legitimate dealers.
Prosecutors claim that 171 of the 180 antiques recovered were initially discovered in the custody of suspected antiquities traffickers, including two who have already been convicted in Italy. They said that the inquiry indicated that 101 of the objects were visible and identifiable in images found in the custody of known traffickers, despite being encrusted in grime and encrustations.
Prosecutors issued 17 search warrants and cooperated with officials in 11 countries, including those in Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Turkey.
Officials said they agreed not to prosecute Mr. Steinhardt as long as he follows all of the restrictions and that he would agree that all of the items would be returned to their rightful owners.
Steinhardt has had run-ins with the law over his collection since the 1990s. A federal judge decided in 1997 that Steinhardt had unlawfully imported a golden bowl from Italy, known as a phiale, in 1992. In 1995, Steinhardt's residence was raided for allegedly stolen items worth $1 million. The judge dismissed his claim that he was not aware of how the items were acquired by his suppliers.
Investigators searched his office and Fifth Avenue residence in 2018 and removed many antique masterpieces from Greece and Italy. That seizure followed a 2017 seizure of a marble monument taken from a temple in Sidon, Lebanon, which Steinhardt voluntarily surrendered.
