US Seizes $12 Million From Estate of Accused Statue Trafficker

US prosecutors reached a deal to seize $12 million from the estate of the late Douglas Latchford, a British antiquities dealer accused of engineering a decades-long scheme to move stolen Cambodian artifacts into American and European collections.

According to a complaint filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, the money represents the proceeds of Latchford’s sales of looted Southeast Asian objects. His daughter and sole heir, Julia Latchford, agreed with prosecutors not to oppose the seizure—and also to repatriate a seventh century bronze statue from her father’s collection, believed to have been removed improperly from Vietnam. The deal stipulates that ...