Greece has finally recovered a trove of stolen antiquities from disgraced British dealer Robin Symes, the result of an arduous 17-year legal battle that began shortly after Symes was exposed, then imprisoned, in 2005.
Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni announced the news on Friday, according to the BBC. Although she did not specify if this was the case, the precious artifacts could have been part of the same treasure that was recovered in a free port of Geneva in 2016. A joint operation by the Italian Carabinieri and Swiss authorities uncovered 45 crates that belonged to Symes. They had a combined value of several hundred million dollars.
The 351 objects now repatriated to Greece include a bronze statue of Alexander the Great from the 2nd century, a Neolithic statuette dating from 4000 BCE and marble pieces from the Archaic period (c. 700-500 BCE). The endless fight for their return was waged against the discredited concessionaire’s eponymous company, Robin Symes Ltd.
Symes was first exposed during a dispute with the family of his former business partner Christo Michaelides, who died in 1999. When Symes refused to return the ownership of Michaelides to his family, his nephew launched a private investigation of $16 million and a lawsuit against Symes, who lost and was forced into bankruptcy.
In the process, a long history of Symes underreporting his profits as well as the extent of his assets came to light, and he was eventually linked to infamous Italian smuggler Giacomo Medici, who had helped organize the looting of archaeological sites. in Italy. . It is likely that the crates of antiquities recovered in 2016 ended up in the Geneva freeport shortly after Michaelides’ death, to remain hidden from the executors of his estate.
Controversy has followed all antiquities with possible connections to Symes, including a marble Roman statue donated by Christie’s London in 2019 and one Roman marble head sold by Hindman Auctions in Chicago last year. Three lots included in a sale at Sotheby’s London in December also raised suspicions.
This announcement is just the latest victory for Greece in a series of battles over the repatriation of precious artifacts. THE Met has agreed to return several works of art looted last monthh and, in March, the The Vatican has officially handed over three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon. Even attempts to resolve the ongoing dispute between Greece and the United Kingdom over the ownership of the Parthenon marbles have in recent months showed signs of progress.
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