'Prodigious' Egyptian antiquities smuggler linked to British Museum jailed

Ashraf Eldarir gave up being doctor in Egypt to earn more by selling stolen ancient artefacts in US

A looted sarcophagus lid that Ashraf Eldarir smuggled into the US. Photo: US Department of Justice

An Egyptian doctor abandoned treating patients in his homeland and became involved in the “more financially lucrative” trade of smuggling looted ancient artefacts into the US, a court has heard.

Ashraf Eldarir, 52, has been jailed after what prosecutors described as his “prodigious smuggling” operation was halted when he was caught at New York’s JFK Airport with 590 ancient Egyptian artefacts in his luggage.

Eldarir was sentenced to six months in prison at a court in New York on Wednesday, after earlier pleading guilty to four charges of smuggling.

As an investigation by The National previously revealed, an ancient figurine, known as a shabti, that was bought by the British Museum from a convicted smuggler, also passed through the hands of Eldarir.

Before sentencing, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella, outlined the case against Eldarir in a letter to the judge, seen by The National. It reveals new details about the scale and complexity of the Egyptian criminal operation.

The haul of artefacts found on Eldarir at JFK Airport over which he was charged. Photo: US Department of Justice

These include how Eldarir used extensive fake provenance documentation, claiming to show the looted items belonged to his grandfather.

An archaeologist told The National that this practice is known as the “dead dad provenance” trick, or “grandfathering”. The British Museum’s ownership history still shows the shabti as coming from the collection of Eldarir’s grandfather.

Mr Nocella said Eldarir first became involved in smuggling during the Arab Uprising in Egypt in 2011, when “there was massive looting of the country’s archaeological sites” and he made a “conscious, deliberate choice to operate a theft and smuggling scheme”.

“Omar Ashraf Eldarir, a licensed physician in Egypt, decided it was more financially lucrative for him to steal Egyptian artefacts and smuggle them into the United States to sell than to use his medical degree and treat patients in Egypt,” said Mr Nocella.

Eldarir, at some point, moved to the US and court documents show he worked as a taxi driver while living in New York.

He began working with people in Egypt described as “very likely looters and grave robbers” and sent him videos and photos of artefacts for sale. These included a mysterious figure known only as “Major Hassan”.

Eldarir sold items through an antiques dealership run by convicted smuggler Morris Khouli

Eldarir regularly flew to Egypt to pick up the artefacts, then placed them for sale at auction houses, including the prestigious Christie's. He also sold items to Palmyra Heritage, which is run by convicted smuggler Morris Khouli, from whom the British Museum purchased the shabti.

Mr Nocella said Eldarir provided provenance that falsely claimed artefacts from his grandfather’s collection were brought to the US before 1948. Had that been true, it would mean their export from Egypt was not prohibited at that time.

Eldarir was stopped at JFK in January 2020 after arriving on an Egypt Air flight from Cairo. He had gone through the ‘nothing to declare’ lane at customs but was pulled over by immigration officials, who found 590 ancient Egyptian artefacts in three suitcases.

When the cases were opened by customs agents, they were met by the smell of wet earth the moment they undid the bubble-wrapped items, according to the indictment. Sand and loose dirt spilt out, which were all “indicative of recent illicit excavation”.

Among the items recovered by law enforcement officers were gold amulets from a funerary set and wooden tomb model figures with linen garments dating to about 1900 BC.

Eldarir was also charged with smuggling these artefacts. Photo: US Department of Justice

They also found a “forgery toolkit” that revealed the elaborate lengths Eldarir went to, to create convincing provenance documents for his looted items.

There were multiple documents forged using Photoshop, including what appeared to be decades-old Egyptian blank pages with watermarks and loose Egyptian stamps.

Also found were black-and-white photographs purporting to depict an ancestor of Eldarir displaying several of the artefacts in his office from long ago, which had also been Photoshopped.

Investigators from the Department of Homeland Security then began looking at Eldarir’s mobile phone, and they found photographs of ancient artefacts which corresponded with his travel from Cairo to New York. These included a female sarcophagus lid and two masks, which sold for a combined total of $6,050.

Video clips found on the phone included one shot at night at a dig site, which shows someone at the top of a ladder extending underground. The person climbs down, stopping to highlight for Eldarir several ancient carvings and reliefs still intact in the walls of the previously undisturbed site.

Mr Nocella said agents spoke to an Egyptologist at the British Museum, who told them before Eldarir’s arrest in 2020 that he had sold about 500 ancient Egyptian artefacts through prominent auction houses in New York since December 2011.

Other looted antiquities that Eldarir is known to have sold. Photo: US Department of Justice

Eldarir was charged with four counts of smuggling and pleaded guilty the day before his trial was due to begin in February.

The first three relate to individual items sold to dealers from April to November 2019 for a combined total of $6,010. The fourth charge related to the haul he was found with at JFK, the value of which was estimated to be $82,000.

Eldarir is said to have made “tens of thousands of dollars” from his crimes. Mr Nocella emphasised that Egypt is the “true owner of these pieces of cultural heritage” and moves are under way to send them back.

The prosecutor had called for a three-year prison sentence and $10,000 fine, which he said would have reflected “the seriousness of his crimes” and “his lack of respect for the law”.

At a federal court in Brooklyn, he was sentenced by District Judge Rachel Kovner to six months in prison.

“Someone who had truly grappled with accepting responsibility would be remorseful of all his illicit conduct and help facilitate the return of these stolen Egyptian artefacts,” Mr Nocella said. “That is not this defendant”.

The British Museum said establishing the provenance of an object was an integral part of its acquisition process, and this undergoes regular review. The most recent updates were in 2024 to ensure the museum acquires objects only where it has carried out satisfactory due diligence and made all reasonable enquiries.

“We are continuing to research the provenance of the object and have been working proactively with US authorities to support their investigation,” a representative said.