Even after authorities seized more than $95 million worth of antiquities from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in recent years, the institution still holds hundreds more pieces linked to alleged looting and trafficking figures, a new analysis by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has found.

The seizures from the Met have largely consisted of works the museum acquired from a small group of collectors with links to suspected trafficking networks that targeted cultural sites spanning from Rome to rural Cambodia. ICIJ’s previous reporting identified more than a thousand pieces in the Met’s catalog tied to people who were indicted or convicted of antiquities crimes. These included Subhash Kapoor, whom U.S. authorities identified as “one of the most prolific commodities smugglers in the world,” and Robert E. Hecht, whom Italy charged with trafficking.

A new analysis shows the Met still holds hundreds of objects once owned by the very same people who account for most of the antiquities seized from the museum in recent years. This includes Hecht, Kapoor and others linked to trafficking. Kapoor was arrested in Germany in 2011 and later convicted in India of trafficking crimes. Hecht denied involvement in the illegal exportation of art and died in 2012.

In response to a request from ICIJ, the Met said it has identified and expedited research into several hundred works connected with certain dealers as a part of a broader review of its collection. The museum said that it takes an object-by-object approach to the research and pointed to two pieces associated with Hecht that it said have excellent origin records.

“The Met doesn’t want any stolen art in our collection,” Lucian Simmons, the museum’s head of provenance research, told ICIJ in an emailed statement. “We’ve devoted substantial resources to researching works in our care and sharing our findings online and with experts around the world. These efforts have produced meaningful results, including repatriations of objects to multiple countries.”

The museum also still holds pieces once owned by Douglas Latchford, a previously indicted art dealer believed to have played a key role in the mass pillaging of Cambodia’s cultural heritage. Latchford died in 2020.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/hidden-treasures/met-taps-sothebys-executive-to-lead-new-provenance-research-team/

IMPACT Met taps Sotheby’s executive to lead new provenance research team Mar 27, 2024

https://www.icij.org/investigations/hidden-treasures/after-cambodia-celebrated-the-return-of-lost-treasures-the-met-ejected-a-lawyer-who-helped-make-it-happen/

THE MET After Cambodia celebrated the return of lost treasures, the Met ejected a lawyer who helped make it happen Sep 04, 2024

https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/mystery-company-ties-accused-temple-raiders-to-art-world-elite/

Art Mystery company ties accused temple raiders to art world elite Sep 22, 2020

Recommended reading IMPACT Met taps Sotheby’s executive to lead new provenance research team Mar 27, 2024 THE MET After Cambodia celebrated the return of lost treasures, the Met ejected a lawyer who helped make it happen Sep 04, 2024 Art Mystery company ties accused temple raiders to art world elite Sep 22, 2020

The Kazakh government is claiming in a confidential arbitration that international oil giants awarded $10.7 billion in contracts at the Kashagan oil field which had been compromised by self-dealing or unjustified cost increases, or were won through bribery, multiple sources have told ICIJ.

At the heart of the claim are around a dozen contracts that the Kashagan consortium of oil companies had issued to a handful of international engineering and construction firms that built key parts of the Kazakh mega field during the 2000s.

The claim amounts to the most serious accusation yet to surface from the Kazakh government in the closely watched international arbitration dispute between Central Asia’s biggest oil producing state and the North Caspian Operating Consortium (NCOC) that operates Kashagan. The consortium is made up of Shell, ExxonMobil, Eni, TotalEnergies, China National Petroleum Company and Japan’s Inpex.

The claim is part of a $160 billion international arbitration action over the Kashagan project that also includes allegations of lost profits and environmental damage.

The arbitration tribunal, registered at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, is yet to make any decision on the corruption claims, people familiar with the situation said.

The NCOC told ICIJ via email that the consortium members “consider that they have acted in accordance with the relevant contracts, [Kazakh] laws and applicable standards and best practices.”

“Due to the confidential nature of the proceedings, we are unable to provide further comments,” the consortium added.

Kazakhstan is contending that crucial delays at Kashagan, hailed as the world’s biggest oil find after Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, were in part caused by alleged corruption over contract awards to international companies and the mismanagement that ensued during the 2000s, sources told ICIJ.

These alleged corruption-related setbacks, Kazakhstan claims, postponed the start of full production at Kashagan and therefore the start of the profit-sharing phase — the most lucrative for the Kazakh state — even as the oil companies have continued to recover their claimed development costs. Available estimates for the latter hover around the $60 billion mark, though that is believed to be a conservative figure.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/caspian-cabals/behind-closed-doors-kazakhstan-challenges-decades-old-deal-with-160-billion-claim-against-big-oil/

CASPIAN CABALS Behind closed doors, Kazakhstan challenges decades-old deal with $160 billion claim against Big Oil Apr 16, 2025

https://www.icij.org/investigations/caspian-cabals/timur-kulibayev-nazarbayev-kazakhstan-oil-riches/

Caspian Cabals Oil giants ignored red flags, enriched elite for Kazakhstan pipe dream Nov 22, 2024

https://www.icij.org/investigations/caspian-cabals/karachaganak-oil-field-kazakhstan-berezovka-chronic-illness/

BROKEN PROMISES The lost village: Western oil companies enriched Kazakhstan’s power brokers — and left a community in ruins Nov 22, 2024

Recommended reading CASPIAN CABALS Behind closed doors, Kazakhstan challenges decades-old deal with $160 billion claim against Big Oil Apr 16, 2025 Caspian Cabals Oil giants ignored red flags, enriched elite for Kazakhstan pipe dream Nov 22, 2024 BROKEN PROMISES The lost village: Western oil companies enriched Kazakhstan’s power brokers — and left a community in ruins Nov 22, 2024