The Manhattan District Attorney's Office, led by Alvin Bragg and the Antiquities Trafficking Unit under Matthew Bogdanos, has repatriated over 30 antiquities to Spain, Italy, and Hungary. The returned objects include a 1st-century CE marble head of Alexander the Great as Helios, a 1675 Jesuit manuscript stolen during World War II, and several 6th-century Visigoth pendants trafficked by Robin Symes and sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1990. The items were seized from traffickers including Giacomo Medici, Giovanni Franco Becchina, Robin Symes, Robert Hecht, Eugene Alexander, and Edoardo Almagià, who is awaiting extradition from Italy.
This repatriation underscores the ongoing aggressive crackdown by the Manhattan D.A.'s Antiquities Trafficking Unit on the illicit antiquities trade, which has led to numerous high-profile seizures and returns. The case highlights the role of U.S. law enforcement in correcting historical wrongs involving looted cultural heritage and holding traffickers accountable, while also pressuring major museums like the Met to scrutinize their collections' provenance.