US Takes Action to Return Artifact Said to have been Stolen from Cambodia


US prosecutors in Manhattan plan to return a 10th-century Khmer sandstone statue to Cambodia that was said to have been looted from a temple there more than 20 years ago.

In a complaint filed with the Federal District Court in Manhattan on Thursday, prosecutors described how the statue was stolen by a former Khmer Rouge member and then fell into the hands of someone. art collector A man who drove through the war-ravaged forests of Cambodia in the 1970s and was later accused of smuggling stolen relics.

The complaint stated that the statue was taken from a temple called Prasat Krachap in Koh Ker, which was the capital of the ancient Khmer Empire between 928 and 944 AD, in 1997.

An unnamed person who inherited the statue, which depicts the Hindu god Skanda riding a peacock, said he voluntarily renounced any claims on it.

Audrey Strauss, US attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement that the “Skanda on a Peacock” sculpture “has great historical, religious and artistic significance to the people of Cambodia.” “We reaffirm our commitment to end the sale of antiquities that are illegally traded in the United States.”

According to the complaint, the theft was perpetrated by a Cambodian, identified only as Looter-1, who joined the Khmer Rouge at the age of about 10. In the 1990s, Looter-1 was leading a group of about 450 shoplifters. Artifacts from temples and archaeological sites, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors said one evening in 1997, Looter-1 and another person found the statue in Prasat Krachap’s entrance room. In the complaint, they later transferred him to a home near the Thai border.

Last year, the complaint said Looter-1 showed archaeologists that the statue had been discovered. More recently, according to the complaint, a second person met with representatives of Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and acknowledged that he was involved in the looting of Prasat Krachap and selling the sculpture to people, including Bangkok-based collector Douglas A.J.

Also known as Pakpong Kriangsak, Latchford argued that Westerners who bought Southeast Asian objects during the decades-long war in Cambodia and Vietnam should be seen as saviors of objects that may have been lost or destroyed in the jungle. He donated artifacts and money to the national museum in Phnom Penh and was honored with Cambodia’s equivalent of chivalry in 2008.

But in 2019, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Latchford on charges, including conspiracy to smuggle and plot to sell looted Cambodian antiques. A legal counsel said Latchford was in a coma and could not disprove the allegations. This indictment was dismissed after Latchford died last year.

(Latchford’s her daughter has since said He was handing over to Cambodia Khmer antiquities held by his father, some valued at more than $50 million.)

Around April 2000, the complaint said Latchford sold “Skanda on a Peacock” to an unidentified buyer for $1.5 million and shipped it from Singapore to London. Later, the statue was brought to New York. Prosecutors said that after being contacted by federal authorities, the unnamed heir agreed to relinquish ownership.

The statue is currently in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and awaits what US attorney Strauss calls a return to its “rightful home.”



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