New York court issues arrest warrant for collector of looted Anatolian statue

Caveat emptor, buy with caution and responsibility ('New York court issues arrest warrant for collector of looted Anatolian statue', Türkiye News Hürriyet Daily News September 13 2025):

A 74-year-old American collector is facing legal trouble in New York after prosecutors accused him of knowingly purchasing an ancient statue looted from Türkiye. According to a report by The New York Times, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has issued an arrest warrant for Aaron Mendelsohn, who in 2007 bought a 2,000-year-old Roman emperor statue originally stolen from the ancient city of Bubon in the western province of Burdur. Investigators say the statue, one of about ten illegally excavated from Bubon in the 1960s, travelled first to the United Kingdom before reaching the United States. Despite being aware of its illicit origins, Mendelsohn acquired the piece from a gallery and continued to display it. Court filings revealed that he even sought advice from a former museum curator on how to avoid legal consequences, who reportedly suggested showing the piece only to private guests. The case gained momentum following the establishment of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 2017. Working in close cooperation with Türkiye’s Culture and Tourism Ministry, prosecutors gathered electronic correspondence and documentation that linked Mendelsohn directly to the illegal acquisition. The evidence, authorities said, made clear that the collector had full knowledge of the statue’s stolen provenance.