Manhattan DA’s Office Announces Repatriation of Marcus Aurelius Statue to the People of Türkiye

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced that, following a criminal investigation, the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) has agreed to surrender the statue of Marcus Aurelius so that the D.A.’s Office can repatriate it to the people of Türkiye. The CMA will also dismiss with prejudice their federal lawsuit challenging the Office’s seizure of the statue in August 2023. 

Since 2022, the D.A.’s Office’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU) has been investigating a global smuggling network that systematically plundered the rich cultural heritage of Anatolia by pillaging the ancient city of Bubon in south-central Türkiye and trafficking its looted antiquities into and through New York County. In August 2023, a judge signed a search warrant that authorized the Office to seize the Marcus Aurelius statue at the CMA.

As a result of the ongoing investigation into Bubon, and through warrants authorized by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Pickholz, the ATU has now seized 15 antiquities looted from Bubon, 14 of which have already been repatriated, collectively valued at almost $80 million. The Marcus Aurelius statue will be returned to Türkiye pending logistical arrangements being finalized with Turkish officials. 

“I am pleased the Cleveland Museum of Art agrees that this statue belongs to the people of Türkiye. This investigation included extensive witness interviews and forensic testing that proved conclusively this antiquity was looted from Bubon. I appreciate the museum’s cooperation throughout this matter, which is illustrative of how we can work together to ensure that looted antiquities are in the possession of its rightful owners. Our extensive investigation into the widespread and historic looting at Bubon has now led to 15 antiquities recovered for the people of Türkiye, and I thank our team of prosecutors, analysts, and investigators for their hard work,” said District Attorney Bragg.

Members of the ATU, along with members of the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations, Turkish officials, and representatives from CMA have worked in a mutually cooperative manner. This included witness interviews and reviewing documents received pursuant to search warrants and Grand Jury subpoenas, and from representatives of the Government of the Republic of Türkiye. It has also included extensive forensic examinations at the Sebasteion in Bubon, complemented by comprehensive scientific testing, including 3D modeling, lead-isotope analysis, and soil comparison. All of this confirmed that the statue was looted from Bubon.

In the 1960s, individuals from a village near Bubon began plundering a Sebasteion, an ancient shrine with monumental bronze statues of Roman emperors and selling those looted antiquities to smugglers based in the coastal Turkish city of Izmir.  Working with Switzerland-based trafficker George Zakos and New York-and-Paris-based trafficker Robert Hecht, they unlawfully removed the looted antiquities from Türkiye, transporting them to Switzerland or the United Kingdom, and then onward to the United States or other European destinations.  Once the statues were in the United States, New York-based dealers such as Jerome Eisenberg’s Royal-Athena Galleries and the Merrin Gallery funneled the stolen Bubon bronzes into museum exhibitions and academic publications thereby laundering the pieces with newly crafted provenance.  As the Bubon pieces graced the pages of exhibition catalogues and academic publications, the reputational value of the institutions who displayed the Bubon pieces increased and the financial value of the statues grew.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Senior Trial Counsel, led the criminal investigation, assisted by Assistant District Attorney Taylor Holland, former-Supervising Investigative Analyst Apsara Iyer, former-Investigative Analyst Daniel Healey, Investigative Analyst Grace Vieaux, Special Agent Robert Mancene, and Dr. Elizabeth Marlowe. Assistant D.A.’s Corey Shoock and Jacqueline Studley in the General Counsel’s Office worked on the federal litigation.

This Office recognizes and appreciates the complete cooperation of CMA and of the officials, archaeologists, academics, and surviving villagers in Türkiye. . We would like to especially thank Deputy Minister of Culture Gokhan Yazgi, Dr. Zeynep Boz (Head of the Combatting Illicit Trafficking Department), Burcu Özdemir, Egemen Batu Varol, and Utku Yurtsever at Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The Office also thanks Subodh Chandra.

[Source: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office].