FBI supports investigation into missing objects from the British Museum

The FBI is investigating the sale of hundreds of objects allegedly stolen from the British Museum.

The museum announced last year that more than 1,500 items were missing, stolen or damaged, many of which were believed to have been offered for sale on eBay and payment was made through PayPal.

The US domestic intelligence service is said to have helped return 268 items after they were purchased by a collector in Washington.

According to a BBC report, the FBI contacted a buyer and questioned him about two pieces he had bought on eBay. The FBI informed him that the FBI was assisting the Metropolitan Police in investigating missing or stolen museum objects.

The buyer said he no longer owns the items and does not believe authorities have tracked them down.

The British Museum said 626 of the missing items had been recovered, more than 100 had been identified but had yet to be returned.

The British Museum over the years – in pictures

Most of the missing items were reportedly uncatalogued and the museum is looking for ways to prove their ownership.

The museum believes they were taken by senior curator Dr Peter Higgs, who was dismissed for gross misconduct in July last year.

Lawyers for the institution, which has brought a civil action against Dr Higgs, told the High Court in London in March that there was “compelling evidence” that the former trustee “abused his position of trust” between at least July 2009 and January 2018. Higgs denies this.

He was ordered to list or return all stolen items within four weeks.

Lawyer Daniel Burgess claimed that Dr Higgs, who was investigated by the Metropolitan Police but has not been charged with any crime, stole items including gemstones, jewellery, gold and silver and “deliberately” damaged artefacts by removing gold and silver from them.

The museum claims that Dr Higgs, who worked for the Ministry of Greece and Rome for more than 30 years before his dismissal, earned an estimated £100,000 from the sale of the items.

Dr Higgs did not attend the hearing for health reasons. The police investigation is ongoing.

What is missing?

On the advice of salvage specialists, the museum is not releasing full details of the lost and damaged items.

“We can communicate what kind of material we believe was stolen,” the museum said on its website.

“The vast majority of the items come from the Ministry of Greece and Rome and fall mainly into two categories: precious stones and jewelry.”

The missing objects include gemstones, cameos or intaglios, which are often set in rings or other settings or remain unmounted and unworked.

They date from all over antiquity, especially from the Late Bronze Age (about 15th to 11th century BC) as well as from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

“Although the majority of the items are gemstones and jewelry, our research suggests that a number of other materials are also among the missing objects – such as small sculpture fragments and Greek pottery,” the museum said.

Updated: May 27, 2024, 08:03