Former Louvre Head Charged in Alleged Antiquities Trafficking Case
- May 28, 2022 16:57
Former director of the Louvre, Jean-Luc Martinez, was charged last week as part of an investigation into alleged trafficking of antiquities. An "official legal source" told The Art Newspaper that Martinez was charged Wednesday with “complicity of gang fraud and laundering“ of antiquities allegedly smuggled from Egypt and purchased by the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
His charges relate to an ongoing investigation into antiquities that had been sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Martinez has previously denied wrongdoing.
Martinez headed the Paris museum between 2013 and 2021. An art historian and archaeologist, Martinez was the first archaeologist to rise to the Louvre's top post since 1962.
Read more at The Art Newspaper