A British man, arrested in May after he had allegedly tried to sell six antiquities through Christie's, is out on bail today after having reportedly been officially charged in London with being involved with looted Egyptian antiquities. He says he had inherited the Egyptian objects from his uncle who'd "served in Egypt during WWII and stayed on for a few years before returning to the UK in the '50s". According to Al-Ahram: Scotland Yard referred Neil Kingsbury to court after three months of investigations into suspicions that he smuggled Egyptian antiquities and tried to sell them through Christie's auction house. "Kingsbury was charged with three counts of fraud by false representation," a Scotland Yard spokesman told Ahram Online. Other charges include one count of possession of stolen property. The Scotland Yard's Art and Antiquities Squad (AAS) officers interrogated Kingsbury (63) late Monday.The Defendent is presumed innocent unless convicted by a court of law of course. It is interesting to speculate why the Dealing in Cultural property (Offences) Act is not being used here. What's the point of having one if it's not used? It appears that Mr Kingsbury is due to appear in court on 20 August.
Amer Sultan, 'British national officially charged with looting Egyptian antiquities' Al-Ahram online 6 Aug 2013
[I am intrigued by the odd coincidence in name and stated age between the accused and a sound-recordist who'd worked on a 2005 TV series on Egypt (and Indiana Jones films). It would be interesting to know more].
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