New York District Attorney Cy Vance announced on Monday that hedge fund billionaire and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt surrendered $70 million of stolen antiquities and agreed to a first-of-its-kind lifetime ban on purchasing antiquities.
According to Vance, the antiquities will be returned to their rightful owners in Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Turkey.
The investigation, which began in February 2017, revealed “compelling evidence” that the 180 antiquities came from 11 countries, at least 171 having passed through traffickers before Steinhardt purchased them.
“For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artefacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold, or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe,” Vance said in a statement.
In resolving the matter, Steinhardt denied any criminal wrongdoing, bringing an end to a grand jury investigation into him.
According to his lawyers, Andrew Levander and Theodore Wells, Steinhardt was relieved that the investigation was over and that items wrongfully taken by others will be returned to their countries of origin. They also noted that Steinhardt may sue the dealers for restitution.
81-year-old Steinhardt amassed his fortune while running the hedge fund Steinhardt Partners, which he closed in 1995 to focus on Jewish philanthropy.
Forbes magazine estimates his net worth at $1.2 billion.
Steinhardt once acknowledged that a majority of the items he bought from one dealer “had no provenance,” according to a 142-page statement of facts.
The antiquities included a 4th century B.C. head of a stag worth $3.5 million that Steinhardt loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1993.
According to undated handwritten notes in Steinhardt’s records, the stag’s head was found in Western Turkey.
