A prominent US art collector and billionaire philanthropist, Michael Steinhart, has handed over his art collection worth $70 million in order to avoid criminal charges, Justice Department officials in New York said on 6 December.
The returned treasure includes 180 works of art and antiquities stolen from around the world, including Pakistan.
Some of the stolen antiques in Steinhart’s possession were from ancient Greece, including the Stag’s Head Rhyton, a drinking vessel from 400BC worth $3.5 million.
The deal, announced by Manhattan Attorney General’s office, will save the 80-year-old from indictment and trial for the time being. But he will be banned for life from acquiring antiques on the legal art market.
According to prosecutors, Michael Steinhart has also surrendered the Larnax, a Cretan chest for human remains. He had allegedly bought the 3,000-year-old item from a known trafficker in 2016, they added.
“Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artifacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold, or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe,” Manhattan District Attorney, Cy Vance Jr, said while announcing the surrender.
He said that the seized items had been smuggled out of 11 different countries and were sold in the international art market.
On the other hand, Steinhardt’s lawyers said that his client was pleased the investigation had ended.
“The items wrongfully taken by others will be returned to their native countries,” he said, adding that Steinhart “might seek compensation from dealers who had misled him as to the provenance of the items he bought.”
