Kapoor is currently awaiting trial in India on charges of plundering archaeological sites and conspiring with black market traders to send illicit artifacts overseas.
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Making the seizure public on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney's office asked a judge to grant it custody of the artifacts stashed by Kapoor in several hideaways in Manhattan and Queens. The antiques were confiscated during raids that began in 2012 and continued through last year. The case, which now extends to four continents and is being pursued in conjunction with Indian officials, has been named Operation Hidden Idol.
The authorities said their goal in gaining custody of the items was to set in motion the return of the stolen objects to India and their other countries of origin. Officials also hope to prosecute the 65-year-old Kapoor, an American citizen, in the US, once he is extradited after the trial in India.
Kapoor, whose defunct gallery, Art of the Past, sold hundreds of objects to prominent American museums and collectors, has denied any wrongdoing. "At the present time we are at a distinct disadvantage because he is in an Indian jail and all the facts in this matter are known to him," said Kenneth J Kaplan, Kapoor's lawyer. Manhattan prosecutors declined comment on the case.
Since an initial raid on Kapoor's gallery by Homeland Security Investigations agents in 2012, three of his associates have agreed to criminal penalties in exchange for cooperating with investigators, according to officials and lawyers.
Kapoor's office manager, Aaron M Freedman, pleaded guilty in 2013 to six counts of criminal possession of stolen property valued at $35 million and, according to his lawyer, helped officials track down some of Kapoor's hidden storage locations.
In addition, Kapoor's sister Sushma Sareen, a 61-year-old Queens resident, pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanour charge of obstructing justice and was sentenced to conditional release. In 2013, she had been charged with receiving and possessing several million dollars' worth of ancient bronze statues, which remain missing. She is also cooperating, according to investigators.
Federal authorities have identified 18 American museums as owning a total of 500 items sold or donated by Kapoor. Several museums have recently turned in objects judged to be illicit, while others have said they are satisfied that such items were legally acquired.
Earlier this month, the Honolulu Museum of Art handed over seven antiquities following an investigation during which it emerged that the objects had been stolen from temples and ancient Buddhist sites in India and brought to the US illegally. The Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts is also returning a 19th Century Tanjore portrait it purchased in 2006 from Kapoor. Nyt news service
(With inputs from PTI)
http://ift.tt/1p7U6Zw states,Subhash Kapoor,Madison Avenue art dealer
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