Suspicious rise in Egyptian artefacts brought to US

'Suspicious rise in Egyptian artefacts brought to US' NewEurope Online

Widespread looting of archaeological sites has been reported in Egypt since the 2011 revolution resulted in political instability. [...] “It is extremely difficult to prove that any single artefact that arrives in the US has been looted,” said Erin Thompson, a professor of art crime at the City University of New York. “Middlemen are experts in making looted and smuggled antiquities look like they are part of the legitimate market by cleaning and restoring them and creating forged paperwork that makes it seem like Egypt gave permission for its export.” “Suddenly, an artefact that was ripped out of the ground last month is indistinguishable from one that’s been in a private collection for decades, and which is entirely legal to export and sell,” Thompson added.

Perhaps, then, we need closer scrutiny of that documentation and prosecutions of those dodgy middlemen for fraud. How may have been reported by "Reputable" antiquity dealers in the last five years?