Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Tax fraud part of alleged black-market trade in Asian artifacts

Federal agents raided four art museums in southern California last week as part of an investigation into the sale of looted antiquities from Asia and arrangements that allowed donors of the artifacts to the museums to take inflated tax deductions for their donations.

Federal agents executed search warrants at the properties of dealers, collectors and the museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). No one was arrested, and no charges have been filed in the case.