A British antiquities dealer, Douglas Latchford, has been accused of making millions from an international looting network, trafficking artifacts from Cambodia. Latchford, who died in 2020, was a respected figure in the art world, but his customers were unaware that the artifacts he sold them were often looted from ancient temple complexes in Cambodia.

Illicit Trade

Latchford’s inventory had been illegally pillaged from abandoned archeological sites like Angkor Wat and Koh Ker. Small-scale looters, sometimes with the help of local military personnel, would remove the works with shovels, chisels, picks, and even dynamite before transporting them to the Thai border.

The artifacts then found their way to Latchford, who laundered them onto the global art market using falsified records. Some of the artifacts later appeared at major auction houses or joined the collections of museums, including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Consequences

In recent years, private collectors and major institutions have sent items linked to Latchford back to Cambodia. This has all but ended the market for Khmer art, according to Canadian journalist Matthew Campbell, whose new book lays out the case against Latchford.

Latchford’s daughter, Julia, has returned over 100 Khmer artifacts she inherited from him to Cambodia’s government. His estate has also forfeited $12 million over money he derived from selling stolen antiquities.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.