Manhattan DA returns 657 looted antiquities worth $14m to India

In a ceremony held at the Indian consulate in New York City, the Manhattan District Attorney's office returned 657 antiquities to Indian officials, with an estimated value of nearly $14 million. These artifacts were recovered through probes into trafficking operations associated with convicted dealers Subhash Kapoor and Nancy Wiener. Notable among the items is a bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara worth $2 million, which was taken from the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum in Raipur and confiscated from a private collection in New York in 2025. Additionally, a red sandstone Buddha valued at $7.5 million, smuggled by Kapoor, was found in one of his storage units. A sandstone dancing Ganesha, looted from a Madhya Pradesh temple in 2000, was traced back to Doris Wiener and Nancy Wiener, who fabricated its provenance and consigned it to Christie's in 2012; it was eventually returned by a private collector. DA Alvin Bragg emphasized the extensive nature of trafficking networks that exploit Indian cultural heritage. Kapoor and seven co-defendants were indicted in November 2019; he was convicted in India in 2022 and is awaiting extradition to the US, while five co-defendants have also been found guilty.