Kenneth Glad
The international trade in ancient objects has come under renewed scrutiny as courts examine transactions involving major collections. The Hamburg proceedings form part of a wider investigation stretching across several countries.
A Hamburg court has convicted a brother and sister of laundering proceeds linked to the sale of Egyptian antiquities that investigators allege originated in illegal excavations.
The court ordered €26m confiscated from the brother and a further €6m from his sister. Arab News reports that the pair were also fined more than €90,000 and €30,000 respectively as part of the ruling.
Although the defendants were not publicly identified by the court, The Art Newspaper writes that the proceedings concern Abraham Simonian and Alice Simonian Schad, the children of Hamburg antiquities dealer Serop Simonian. Both defendants have appealed against the decision.
Museum sales shaped the case
Objects investigated in the case included a Cleopatra bust, a carved stela bearing Tutankhamun’s name and funerary material associated with an Egyptian princess.
Several of the pieces were acquired by the Louvre Abu Dhabi, while a gold sarcophagus linked to the wider investigation entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Art Newspaper put the combined value of sales involving the two museums at about €70m.
The Hamburg judge described the objects as “unique cultural treasures” and the proceedings as a “highly complex legal case.”
Questions surrounding provenance are especially important in cases involving ancient artefacts because documentation can help establish whether museums, collectors and dealers have a lawful ownership history for the objects they acquire.
Authorities traced the money
The financial trail extended well beyond the individual museum sales at the centre of the case. Around 200 antiquities were seized in Antwerp in 2021, with police records cited by The Art Newspaper listing the objects under Abraham Simonian’s name.
According to the publication, German authorities had previously seized €4.6m from accounts held across six banks, as well as property valued at €16.5m. Investigators also found antiquities, ancient gold coins and a collection of luxury watches at his Hamburg residence.
A separate allegation that Abraham Simonian had participated in organised trafficking of stolen property was dropped because of insufficient evidence.
According to The Art Newspaper, the Hamburg ruling was the first European judgment connected to the Simonian investigation.
Sources: The Art Newspaper, Arab News
