Jean-Luc Martinez receives preliminary charges for alleged antiquities trafficking, 'complicity in organised fraud' and money laundering during his tenure as head of the famous Paris museum.
The former president of the Louvre has received preliminary charges for alleged antiquities trafficking during his tenure as head of the famous Paris museum.Two of his former colleagues in the Egyptian antiquities department were recently taken into custody and released this weekPolice in the French capital charged Jean-Luc Martinez on Wednesday with "complicity in organised fraud" and money laundering, according to the Paris prosecutor's office.
The prosecutor's office said that two of Mr Martinez's former colleagues in the Louvre's Egyptian antiquities department were also taken into custody this week but released without charges. The Paris prosecutor's office would not confirm French media reports saying that the three men were suspected of taking part in the trafficking of priceless heritage pieces.
According to Le Canard Enchaine newspaper, investigators were looking into whether Mr Martinez "turned a blind eye" to false certificates of provenance for five Egyptian antiquities.
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