“Egypt has an incredibly rich cultural history that we will not allow to be diminished by selfish looters and traffickers. I am proud that my Office has successfully returned more than 25 antiquities to Egypt in just over two years, and we look forward to continued work with our partners at HSI to protect cultural heritage all around the globe,” said District Attorney Bragg. 

“We are continuing to investigate the wide-ranging trafficking networks that continue to target Southeast Asian antiquities. While we have made significant progress and have dismantled several prominent networks, there is clearly still much more work to do. These repatriation ceremonies show our continued commitment to protecting cultural heritage and returning stolen antiquities back home,” said District Attorney Bragg.

“It does not matter whether an antiquity or painting was stolen ten years ago or ten thousand years ago – a stolen object is a stolen object,” said District Attorney Bragg. “This investigation makes clear that looting and trafficking is far from a thing of the past, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to aggressively root out and dismantle these schemes.” 

“I am thrilled that two more drawings are now being returned to the relatives of Fritz Grünbaum. The fact that we have been able to return ten pieces that were looted by the Nazis speaks to the dogged advocacy of his relatives to ensure these beautiful artworks could finally return home. Let us use this moment as an opportunity to honor and preserve the extraordinary legacy of Mr. Grünbaum – a life that we should never forget,” said District Attorney Bragg. 

“This is an exquisite set of 30 antiquities that represents the extraordinary depth and beauty of Greece’s cultural heritage. The cases are a team effort and I am extremely grateful to each of the analysts and prosecutors in my Office who put in tireless work to bring these pieces home. We will continue to aggressively investigate those who are using Manhattan as a base to traffic stolen antiquities,” said District Attorney Bragg.