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An internationally recognized expert on Asian antiquities has been arrested and indicted on a federal wire fraud charge stemming from an ongoing investigation into the importation of stolen or looted antiquities from Southeast Asia.
Roxanna M. Brown, 62, director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand, was arrested late Friday in Seattle and indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. She was expected to make her initial appearance Monday afternoon in federal court in Seattle, but could not make it because of illness, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph O. Johns said.
The indictment alleges that Brown allowed her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms that, for tax purposes, inflated the value of antiquities donated to several Southern California museums.
In January, federal agents raided the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, the Mingei International Museum in San Diego and Silk Roads Gallery in Los Angeles. The agents were seeking antiquities illegally smuggled from Thailand and American Indian lands.
There was no direct connection between the Brown indictment and Orange County or the Bowers Museum, said Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer for the U.S. Department of Justice. However, he added that the investigation is continuing.
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Roxanna M. Brown, 62, director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand, was arrested late Friday in Seattle and indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. She was expected to make her initial appearance Monday afternoon in federal court in Seattle, but could not make it because of illness, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph O. Johns said.
The indictment alleges that Brown allowed her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms that, for tax purposes, inflated the value of antiquities donated to several Southern California museums.
In January, federal agents raided the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, the Mingei International Museum in San Diego and Silk Roads Gallery in Los Angeles. The agents were seeking antiquities illegally smuggled from Thailand and American Indian lands.
There was no direct connection between the Brown indictment and Orange County or the Bowers Museum, said Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer for the U.S. Department of Justice. However, he added that the investigation is continuing.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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