Federal authorities requested reality TV star Kim Kardashian return a “looted” ancient Roman statue.
The statue, “Fragment of Myron’s Samian Athena,” was “looted, smuggled, and illegally exported from Italy,” according to the civil forfeiture complaint filed Friday in California. Kardashian allegedly purchased the statue in 2016 from the Axel Vervoordt Gallery, ArtNet reported.
The government claims that an ancient statue imported to the U.S. by reality star Kim Kardashian violates an agreement between Italy and the U.S.https://t.co/iGSxUvNj5Y
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 5, 2021
However, a representative for Kardashian claimed the reality star had never purchased the piece and never received it. (RELATED: The Thief Accused Of Robbing Kim Kardashian Is Reportedly Coming Out With A Tell-All Book)
“Kim never purchased this piece and this is the first that she has learned of its existence,” the representative told Page Six. “We believe it may have been purchased using her name without authorization and because it was never received, she was unaware of the transaction. We encourage an investigation and hope that it gets returned to the rightful owners.”
The statue arrived in Los Angeles in 2016 as part of shipment of roughly 40 antiques worth $745,882, according to Page Six. Discrepancies on the paperwork reportedly led to an investigation of the statue and Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage sent an archaeologist to examine the antique.