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Arrest of German Lebanese antiques smuggler solves golden sarcophagus mystery
The Arab News reported that a long-running art-world mystery has been solved following the arrest of a German Lebanese antiques smuggler.
During the Egyptian uprising in 2011, tomb raiders dug out the golden sarcophagus of a first century B.C. Egyptian priest.
Studded with jewels and embellished with scenes and hieroglyphic texts — said to guide Nedjemankh, chief priest of the ram-headed Egyptian god Heryshef, through the afterlife — the treasure passed through art dealers in the UAE, Germany, and France before being sold for nearly $4 million to the Met Museum in New York City in 2017.
The arrival of the piece in the US was deemed suspicious by the American law enforcement agency the FBI, which began an investigation with French authorities.
When the artifact was returned for display in Egypt in 2019, two Frenchmen, named only as Christophe K and Richard S, were arrested over its theft.
Now the mystery of the artifact has been solved, as a German Lebanese antiques dealer turned smuggler Roben D has been linked to the illegal sale of the sarcophagus.
Roben D was intercepted at Hamburg airport after an EU arrest warrant was issued.
Liddy Oechtering, of the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office, said Roben D, 42, had been extradited to France this month accused of commercial fraud, receiving stolen goods, and trading in cultural assets.
Mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep I digitally unwrapped for the first time
Roben D, thought to be a seasoned art smuggler, is being held in Paris. He is suspected of illegally selling five other historical artifacts, said to be worth approximately $55 million, to the Louvre Abu Dhabi art museum.
Source: arabnews
