Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the return of 39 antiquities to the people of Pakistan. The objects were recovered pursuant to several criminal investigations into trafficking networks targeting Pakistani antiquities, including that of SUBHASH KAPOOR.

For more than a decade, the District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU), along with law-enforcement partners, have investigated KAPOOR and his co-conspirators for the alleged illegal looting, exportation, and sale of artifacts from numerous countries in South and Southeast Asia. The D.A.’s Office obtained an arrest warrant for KAPOOR in 2012 and his extradition from India, is pending. [1] To date, the investigation has led to the convictions of five individuals and the pending extradition of five others.

“I thank our team for their commitment to dismantling this trafficking network, which continues to yield the return of priceless artifacts to countries all around the world,” said District Attorney Bragg.

“Pakistan has worked closely with authorities here in New York to recover stolen antiquities trafficked out of our country. I am pleased to note that over 500 artifacts have been repatriated in this partnership, including Indus-era pottery and Gandharan Buddhist masterpieces. We are deeply grateful to District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his dedicated team—especially the Antiquities Trafficking Unit—for their leadership and commitment to cultural justice. Their efforts are not only commendable—they are historic,” said Consul General Aamer Ahmed Atozai of the Consulate General of Pakistan, New York.

Key pieces being returned are:

• Buddha and Attendants Frieze: this grey schist architectural frieze panel depicts the seated Buddha flanked by attendants and is carved in the Gandharan sculptural tradition. For decades, Kapoor and his co-conspirators trafficked Buddhist artifacts looted from ancient Gandharan sites into Manhattan and then sold them to private collectors and museums across the U.S. The ATU has seized and returned hundreds of these sacred objects to Pakistan in the last five years.
• An Indus Valley Terracotta Vessel, dating to 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, adorned with hand-painted fish in black, red, and blue. It was seized by the ATU in 2025 from a New York dealer.

Pictured: “Buddha and Attendants Frieze”

During District Attorney Bragg’s tenure, the ATU has recovered more than 2,350 antiquities stolen from 42 countries, valued at more than $250 million. Since its creation, the ATU has convicted 17 individuals of cultural property-related crimes, recovered more than 6,000 antiquities valued at more than $470 million, and has returned more than 5,500 of them so far to 30 countries.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Senior Trial Counsel, conducted the investigation, along with Assistant District Attorneys James Edward-Lebair and Taylor Holland, Investigative Analyst Charlotte Looram; District Attorney Investigator John Paul Labbat; and Special Agent Robert Fromkin of Homeland Security Investigations.

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[1] Any charges referenced herein that have not already resulted in convictions are merely allegations, and any individuals not convicted are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.