On this three-part particular report, JHB investigates the position of “The Scholar” in a decades-long illicit antiquities smuggling operation that left historical Cambodian temples plundered for large cash.
Earlier than her dying final yr, Emma C. Bunker, a longtime Denver Artwork Museum advisor, performed an integral position in serving to her shut pal and confidant, the disgraced collector and seller Douglas Latchford, promote and market his looted assortment of prized relics to rich consumers and distinguished museums — together with Denver’s.
The sequence highlights the comfy nature between curators, students, museums and sellers — and the way incentives align to permit the soiled world of the worldwide artwork market to proliferate.
The Put up’s year-long investigation included on-the-ground reporting in Cambodia and Thailand, a overview of a whole bunch of state and federal court docket paperwork, and interviews with 34 artwork specialists, authorities officers, former looters, cultural heritage investigators, and Bunker’s pals and contemporaries. The Put up additionally examined dozens of personal emails from Latchford’s pc, which his household shared with the Cambodians after his dying.
Learn The Put up’s Looted investigation right here:
— Full story through Sam Tabachnik, JHB
Looted: Stolen relics, laundered artwork and a Colorado scholar’s position within the illicit antiquities commerce
5 don’t-miss tales from final week
- Deion Sanders agrees to teach CU Buffs soccer
- Unmasking “The Scholar”: The Colorado lady who helped a worldwide artwork smuggling operation flourish for many years
- Ruby Johnson, 77, has lived in her home for 40 years. After a Denver police SWAT raid, she’s afraid to be residence.
- 22-year-old killed by Colorado deputy acted in self-defense, dedicated no crime, grand jury finds
- What’s Colorado’s hottest fast-food joint? Trace: It’s not Chipotle
Picture of the week
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