The Met To Investigate Possibly Stolen Indian Artifacts: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The Metropolitan Museum of Art has launched an investigation into 15 Indian antiques in its collection that may have been smuggled out of the South Asian country, according to reports.

The artifacts being investigated were either sold or donated to The Met from 1990 to 2015, the New York Times first reported. The pieces — mostly sculptures and other antiquities and relics — have all been linked to the accused smuggler Subhash Kapoor, who is facing charges in both Indian and the United States.

Kapoor has been in prison in India since 2011, but The Met only began its investigation after he was charged in the United States this year.

"As we have since learned of the multiple law enforcement actions, and in the spirit of our enhanced procedures over recent years, we are now seeking to identify additional provenance information," The Met told the Times in a statement.

Indian officials told the Times that they appreciate the museum's investigation and hope that other cultural institutions follow The Met's lead and begin to investigate pieces that may have a dubious origin. The country has recently undertaken an aggressive campaign to reclaim artifacts looted from the country during and since British occupation, the Times reported.

Kapoor's smuggling ring is accused of plundering artifacts worth about $145 million from India, the Times reported. In 2016, United States officials returned an 11th- or 12th-century statue of the Hindu diety Ganesha to India that was tied to Kapoor's smuggling ring. The statue was stolen from a temple in 2006 and eventually ended up in the hands of Kapoor, who sold the artifact to the Toledo Museum of Art, federal prosecutors said at the time.

Read the full NY Times report here.