Hello, Kim Kardashian? Italy called: It wants its statue back.
That pretty much sums up a recent civil forfeiture action filed by the United States government alleging that an antique Roman statue imported to Los Angeles by the reality TV star was smuggled into the country illegally.
Court documents filed last month claim that the five-ton shipment valued at nearly $750,000 and addressed to “Kim Kardashian dba Noel Roberts Trust” in Woodland Hills was seized by Customs and Border Protection in 2016 under suspicion that its entry to the US violated the Cultural Property Implementation Act.
The Cultural Property Implementation Act, or CPIA, stipulates that archaeological material originating in Italy and representing the pre-classical, Classical and Imperial Roman Periods cannot be imported to the US without proper documentation.
Kim Kardashian denies involvement in Ancient Roman sculpture s looting from Italy irishmirror.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irishmirror.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Kim Kardashian West has denied any knowledge of an Ancient Roman sculpture - believed to be from the first century - that was imported under her name in 2016.
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Kim Kardashian has found herself caught up in an unlikely international art smuggling row involving an ancient Roman sculpture that was imported to California under her name.
US prosecutors last week called for the statue fragment which was seized at a Los Angeles port in 2016 to be forfeited and returned to Italy, citing an Italian archaeologist who found it saying the piece had been “looted, smuggled and illegally exported.”
Court documents said the consignee and importer’s name was listed as “Kim Kardashian dba Noel Roberts Trust in Woodland Hills, California” and referred to an invoice “for the sale of the defendant statue by Vervoordt to Noel Robert Trust, dated March 11, 2016.”
Feds Seek Forfeiture of Ancient Roman Statue That Was Headed to Kim Kardashian Italian officials believe the statue is from the 1st or 2nd centuries and was originally looted or illegally exported
Published 3 hours ago
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Federal prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of an ancient Roman sculpture that was on its way to Kim Kardashian when it was seized at Los Angeles port five years ago, NBC News reports.
Italian officials think the sculpture, described as Fragment of Myron s Samian Athena, Limestone, Roman, 1st – 2nd century A.D., was originally looted from Italy, and they want it returned, according to a civil complaint for forfeiture filed in federal court in Los Angeles last week.