Subhash Kapoor (art dealer)

Not to be confused with Subhash Kapoor, the Indian film director.
Subhash Kapoor
NationalityIndian American
Years active1974–2011
Criminal statusConvicted in India
Criminal chargeart theft, grand larceny,[1] criminal possession of stolen property[1]
Penalty7 year prison term for conspiracy, and an additional 3 years for dealing in stolen objects

Subhash Kapoor is an Indian American art smuggler who was convicted for running a $100 million international smuggling racket.[2][3] He was previously the owner of the Art of the Past gallery in Manhattan. His sister business, Nimbus Import/Exports, specialised in selling antiquities from across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia to major museums around the world.[4][1]

Arrest and Custody Pending Trial

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In early October 2011 India’s Central Bureau of Investigation issued an international alert, known as an Interpol’s Red List Notice, for Kapoor’s “non bailable” warrant for arrest in connection with a theft case at the temple in Sripuranthan village, in the Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu. On 30 October 2011, Kapoor was arrested at Frankfurt International Airport and on 14 July 2012 extradited to Chennai, India on charges of receiving artifacts that had been stolen from disused temples in southern India.[4] Many of these objects were purchased by museums throughout the world.[5] For example, in 2008 an 11th-century Chola-period bronze statue of a Dancing Shiva was sold by Kapoor to the National Gallery of Australia for $5.6 million (see Sripuranthan Natarajan Idol). The statue was allegedly stolen from an Indian temple in Tamil Nadu.[6][7][8]

Kapoor was handed over to India by German authorities and extradited in July 2012 and is initially held in custody in Chennai. He was later transferred to Vellore Central Prison in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and still later to the high security block of Tiruchirapalli Central Prison while awaiting trial for the theft of idols from Varadaraja Perumal temple in the state's Ariyalur district in Tamil Nadu.[3] He was attacked by a fellow inmate Kongu Yuvaraj, who was accused of committing an honor killing, following a heated argument between these two.[9][10]

Concluded and Pending Court Cases

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In 2012 the Manhattan District Attorney's Office issued an arrest warrant for Subhash Kapoor. By November 2019 that office had indicted Kapoor for a total of 86 Counts in the New York, including Grand Larceny in the First Degree (1 Count), Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the First Degree (16 Counts), Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (13 Counts), Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Second Degree (50 Counts), Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (1 Count) Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree (3 Counts), Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree (1 Count) and one Count of Scheme and Defraud in the First Degree. All of the charges were based upon evidence gathered by the New York public prosecutor's office investigation, assisted by the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations into the illegal importation and sale of stolen antiquities and other art objects and for having provided said items with fraudulent provenance documents of prior ownership.[11]

On 1 November 2022 Kapoor was found guilty in India under the following charges related to the case involving the theft of idols:

IPC penal code section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) carrying with it a three year prison sentence plus a fine.

IPC penal code section 413 (receives or deals in property which he knows or has reason to believe to be stolen property) carrying with it a three year prison sentence plus a fine.

IPC penal code section 120 b (criminal conspiracy) carrying with it a seven year prison sentence plus a fine.

In 2015, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office brought a civil forfeiture action against antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor over an enormous collection of allegedly looted antiquities and in July 2020 filed their own extradition paperwork for former New York dealer, while he was in prison in India pending the completion of his ongoing trial in Tamil Nadu.[12]

In November 2022, Kapoor was sentenced by Chief Judicial Magistrate D Shanmuga Priya, to a seven-year prison term for conspiracy with an additional three years for buying and dealing in stolen goods. Despite having already served the entirety of that sentence while his case progressed through the court in India. Kapoor remains in custody due to an extradition hold related to a request by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.[13]

In July 2023, Kapoor was required to serve an additional three months in prison for non-payment of a Rs 7,000 court-imposed fine of Rs 7,000.[14] Sources in the Tamil Nadu Police speculated to the ThePrint, an Indian news website, that the non-payment of the fine may have been a deliberate ploy to delay his extradition to the US.[14] As of July 2023, Kapoor remains in prison in Tamil Nadu, awaiting trial in three additional idol theft cases.[14] According to Advocate Senthil Vadivelu, the Tamil Nadu government has requested the continuation of these cases, but progress is stalled due to the New York City government's reluctance to proceed, as Kapoor is also wanted in the US.[14]

Recovery of smuggled items

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On November 10, 2022 the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the return of 187 antiquities collectively valued at nearly $3.4 million to the people of Pakistan all of which had been seized pursuant to the Office’s investigation into Subhas Kapoor's smuggling operation.[15]

In 2022, the US returned 307 recovered antiquities to India, worth more $4 million, three quarters of which were linked to Kapoor.[16]

In April 2022, the Yale University Art Gallery surrendered items valued at more than $1 million as part of art looting investigation. The 13 South Asian artifacts returned by the museum were smuggled by Kapoor.[17]

On 30 March 2023 the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, announced that it had relinquished 15 antique sculptures to the Government of India after being informed that they were “illegally removed” from India. All the sculptures had been sold at one point by Subhash Kapoor.[18]

In April 2024, the US returned stolen antiquities linked to Kapoor to Cambodia and Indonesia.[19] The stolen antiquities that were returned, including a bronze Shiva triad, were valued at $3 million.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Jailed Art Dealer Subhash Kapoor Charged In US With Looting Artifacts". NDTV.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  2. ^ Anne Maria Nicholson (6 March 2014). "National Gallery of Australia defends practices despite admitting it may have been conned into buying stolen Indian art". ABC. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Art smuggler Subhash Kapoor slapped in prison". The Times of India. 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b Adam Matthews (5 December 2013). "The man who sold the world". GQ. Condé Nast Digital India. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  5. ^ "UPDATED: Kapoor's Footprints: 240 Objects from Alleged Antiquities Trafficker Traced to Museums Around the Globe". Chasing Aphrodite. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Dancing Shiva: National Gallery of Australia to return allegedly stolen statue to India". ABC. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Expert labels National Gallery 'naive' as it sues over allegedly stolen Indian Shiva statue". ABC. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Reckless: In Pursuit of Shiva, the National Gallery of Australia Ignored the Advice of Its Attorney". Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Dalit youth murder accused Yuvaraj attacks idol smuggler Subhash Kapoor in Trichy Central Prison | Chennai News - Times of India". The Times of India. 15 March 2018.
  10. ^ Albertson, Lynda (21 August 2019). "Restitution: The grassroots work of the IPP pays off again". ARCA Blog. Association for Research into Crimes against Art. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Criminal-Complaint-Subhash-Kapoor-et-al" (PDF). Association for Research into Crimes against Art. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Vance v. Kapoor, 451488/2015". IFAR. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  13. ^ Moynihan, Colin; Mashberg, Tom (3 November 2022). "India Convicts Antiquities Dealer Also Facing Charges in New York". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d Nath, Akshaya (12 July 2023). "All about convicted idol smuggler Subhash Kapoor & why he's in jail even after serving 10-yr sentence". ThePrint. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  15. ^ Bragg, Alvin L (10 November 2022). "D.A. Bragg Returns 192 Stolen Antiquities to Pakistan". Manhattan District Attorney's Office Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  16. ^ Lau, Chris (23 September 2024). "US to return a trove of nearly 300 history-spanning antiquities to India". CNN. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  17. ^ Mashberg, Tom (1 April 2022). "Yale Museum Surrenders Items as Part of Art Looting Investigation". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  18. ^ "The Met to Return 15 Sculptures to India". Metropolitan Museum of Art. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  19. ^ a b Banerjee, Aveek (27 April 2024). "US returns bronze 'Shiva Triad' among 30 stolen antiquities worth $3 million to Cambodia, Indonesia". India TV. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
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