Simonian siblings convicted of money laundering in Hamburg antiquities case

On August 24, in Hamburg, Abraham Simonian and Alice Simonian Schad, offspring of the suspected antiquities trafficker Serop Simonian, were found guilty of money laundering. The court ordered the seizure of €32 million from their transactions and levied fines totaling more than €120,000. They had sold plundered Egyptian artifacts, such as a bust of Cleopatra and a stela of Tutankhamun, to the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Metropolitan Museum of Art for €70 million. Abraham is required to forfeit €26 million and pay fines exceeding €90,000, while Alice must forfeit €6 million and pay over €30,000. They have filed an appeal, and an additional charge against Abraham was dismissed. This case originated from the seizure of a golden sarcophagus in New York over seven years ago.