The Association for Research into Crimes against Art
The Quest for Justice
Criminal acts against works of art happen more frequently than the public imagines.The stories of these objects range from the dramatic to the all but forgotten. Art works are plundered during war, dug up for profit, stolen from museums, laundered on the art market and sometimes held as collateral by organised crime groups. Art will always attract criminals. Not because criminals are charmed or fascinated by it more than other people, but because with it, there will always be a market.
Art and Antiquities Crime News
Sicilian judges reject appeal made by William Veres
Screenshot of William Veres from the documentary “The Hunt for Transylvanian Gold" Judges from the Tribunale del Riesame di Caltanissetta, the court of first instance with general jurisdiction in criminal matters within the territory of Caltanissetta, Sicily, have...
41 suspects now named in the antiquities blitz “Operation Demetra” carried out in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the UK
As the transnational crime investigation Operation Demetra proceeds into the alleged trafficking of archaeological finds, Italian news reports have begun publishing the names of the 41 individuals currently listed in the obgoing investigation. Some of these...
Request for Return: A marble head of Alexander the Great as Helios, the Sun God
On Monday, 23 July 2018 Matthew Bogdanos, Senior Trial Counsel in the Office of New York County District through Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., submitted an Application for Turnover in support of an order pursuant to N.Y. Penal Law §450.10 (Consol. 2017) and N.Y....
New York Supreme Court judge orders plundered bas-relief from the city of Persepolis must be returned to Iran
A New York Supreme Court judge has ordered the plundered bas-relief from the city of Persepolis, which dates from the 5th Century B.C.E., must be returned to Iran as the country from which authorities say it was stolen more than 80 years ago. To read the rest of this...
Organised crime, museum theft and bank robbery
On Wednesday the Berlin public prosecutor's office and the state criminal police provisionally seized 77 properties, including apartments, houses and land belonging to members of the "Lebanese" Kurdish extended family "Remmo" worth an estimated 9.3 million euros....
Quotes given by ancient art dealer William Veres outlining Balkan trafficking methods.
In 2008, following a ten-year investigation coordinated by Prosecutor General Augustin Lazăr of Romania, a number of individuals were charged in connection with illegal excavations carried out in the dense forests of the Orăştie Mountains in the vicinity of the...
ARCA will begin accepting early applications for its 2019 postgraduate certificate program in the study of art crime and cultural heritage protection in September 2018.
The Association for Research into Crimes against Art warmly will open early admissions to its 11th annual postgraduate certificate program in the study of art crime and cultural heritage protection in September 2018. Held in Italy, this summer-long interdisciplinary...
Contradictory statements given in Wall Street Journal on acquisition roles and methods of Scott Carroll for the Green family’s antiquities collection.
Just short of the opening of Washington DC's new Museum of the Bible, journalist Kelly Crow has published an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal where she outlines recent conversations with former Museum of the Bible antiquities advisor, Scott Carroll, and...