Law FBI Agents Found a Chopped-Up Roman Mosaic of the Mythical Medusa in an L.A. Storage Unit After Following an Anonymous Tip The object had been chopped into 16 pieces. By Sarah Cascone, Sep 6, 2022
Archaeology The Archaeologist Who Discovered King Tut’s Tomb Almost Certainly Stole Artifacts From It, a New Book Reveals A previously unpublished letter provides strong evidence. By Sarah Cascone, Aug 17, 2022
Law For Years, Art Dealer Georges Lotfi Helped Investigators Root Out Antiquities Traffickers. Now Prosecutors Are Hunting for Him Investigators say the tipster became too assured of his own self-importance. By Eileen Kinsella, Aug 9, 2022
Museums Arts Council England Has Issued New ‘Proactive’ Restitution Advice for Museums, Replacing Outdated, Two-Decade-Old Guidance The previous report was issued all the way back in 2000. By Eileen Kinsella, Aug 8, 2022
Crime A Dutch Court Upheld an Eight-Year Sentence for the Daring Serial Thief Who Stole Nearly $20 Million in Art From Museums The court wants to send a message about the serious nature of art theft. By Eileen Kinsella, Jul 25, 2022
Crime A British Dealer Accused of Conspiring With Inigo Philbrick in His Elaborate Art-Fraud Scheme Now Faces Extradition to the U.S. Newland is home on bail and under electronic monitoring in London. By Eileen Kinsella, Jun 21, 2022
Law Dealer Inigo Philbrick Gets Seven Years in Prison for ‘One of the Most Significant Frauds’ in Art-Market History Philbrick was found guilty of defrauding clients out of more than $86 million. By Eileen Kinsella, May 23, 2022
Crime London Galleries Ordered to Return a $1.2 Million Chagall to a U.S. Collector Swindled by Disgraced Dealer Ezra Chowaiki Chowaiki only handed over $900,000 of the $1.2 million purchase price to the client, pocketing the rest. By Sarah Cascone, May 11, 2022
Crime The Feds Indict Two Detroit Brothers and a Florida Man in a Long-Running Forgery Scheme Peddling Fake Art and Sports Memorabilia The men hawked works by purportedly by Gertrude Abercrombie, George Ault, and others from 2005 to 2020. By Eileen Kinsella, Apr 27, 2022
Crime Hackers Broke Into Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Official Instagram and Made Off With Nearly $3 Million Worth of Stolen NFTs It's not the first time hackers have targeted apes. By Eileen Kinsella, Apr 26, 2022
Crime Did Two Schoolteachers Pull Off the Heist of a Major de Kooning? A Documentary Explores Their Possible Double Lives Jerry and Rita Alter and their apparent penchant for high-stakes art crime are the subject of a new documentary. By Sarah Cascone, Apr 7, 2022
Crime Inigo Philbrick’s Lawyers Make a Last-Ditch Appeal for Leniency, With Testimonials From Gilbert & George and a Camp Counselor Seventeen friends and family members have written letters of support on the incarcerated dealer's behalf. By Eileen Kinsella, Apr 4, 2022
Auctions Fugitive Billionaire Joseph Lau Will Auction Off Millions of Dollars in Art and Wine to Make Up for Stock Market Losses Lau is selling off eight pieces of Chinese imperial porcelain at Sotheby's, plus rare wines at Christie's. By Sarah Cascone, Apr 4, 2022
NFTs Police Arrest Two 20-Year-Olds for Allegedly Conning Collectors Out of $1 Million—With Ice Cream-Themed NFT Artworks The pair sold NFTs for 8,888 ice cream scoop characters called Frosties—and then disappeared. By Sarah Cascone, Mar 28, 2022
Law U.S. Authorities Have Indicted a Superblue Sales Director as an Alleged Conspirator of Disgraced Art Dealer Inigo Philbrick Just weeks before Inigo Phibrick is set to appear in court for sentencing, a new indictment has been made in the art fraud case. By Eileen Kinsella, Mar 2, 2022
