Greece Welcomes the Return of 30 Looted Antiquities from New York

Greece welcomed last week the return of 30 looted antiquities after a decision by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L Bragg Jr.

The items, valued at 3.7 million dollars, were handed over to the District Attorney by the chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit Matthew Bogdanos.

Nineteen of the artefacts were voluntarily surrendered by New York gallery owner Michael Ward while three of the pieces were seized from British art dealer Robin Symes.

The ancient Greek artefacts were returned during a special ceremony attended by Consul General of Greece in New York Konstantinos Konstantinou, Secretary General of Culture Georgios Didaskalou, and US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Thomas Acocella.

“This is an exquisite set of 30 antiquities that represents the extraordinary depth and beauty of Greece’s cultural heritage,” said Bragg, adding that investigations will continue to expose “those who are using Manhattan as a base to traffic stolen antiquities”.

Commenting on the news, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni underlined the importance of protecting and preserving cultural heritage for future generations.

“I express my gratitude for the ongoing and fruitful cooperation with the New York District Attorney’s Office and for the return of the 30 antiquities to Greece. Cultural heritage is an integral part of our identity as people and nations,” she said.

Major Greek art works returned include the Marble Aphrodite – a marble statue based on Aphrodite of Knidos and recovered from a storage unit that belonged to convicted trafficker Symes, where it had been hidden since at least 1999; a 4,000-year-old Cycladic marble figurine seized from a storage unit belonging to a New York-based private collector; and a bronze Corinthian helmet smuggled out of Greece.