US District Judge George Daniels found that the US Attorney’s Office (Southern District of New York) adequately pleaded that the statue was stolen and that the statue remained stolen at import into the US. He granted the Government’s motion to amend and denied the claimants’ motion to dismiss. The parties now await a date for trial.
Looting incident
The sandstone statue – which is currently held at Sotheby’s New York – is thought to be a 10th Century statue taken from the Prasat Chen Temple at Koh Ker in the Preah Vihear Province of Cambodia in a looting incident during civil unrest around 1972.
According to HowardKennedyFsi, the statue was sold at an auction house in the UK to a Belgian businessman in 1975 and, upon in his death in 2000, the artefact was passed to his wife who has been in discussions with Sotheby’s since 2010 to sell.
'Rightful home'
HowardKennedyFsi Consultant Daniel McClean – a specialist in art and cultural property law - led the firm’s team. He commented: ‘We are pleased with the District Judge’s findings and look forward to trial. The US authorities are seeking forfeiture of the statue and its return to its rightful home: Cambodia. This case is typical to the kind of advice that we provide our clients (both governments and private parties) in restitution disputes involving art and cultural property in particular to the firm’s work regarding the restitution of artefacts expropriated during the Holocaust.’
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