“Smart criminals launder their money with art.” — Tim Carpenter, Argus Cultural Property Consultants

On November 17, in Washington, DC, AC Executive Director Tess Davis joined the Hudson Institute for the event “Rogue Galleries: Tackling Illicit Finance in U.S. Art Markets.” The Hudson Institute, a leading public-policy think tank based in Washington, convened the Antiquities Coalition, Tim Carpenter (Argus Cultural Property Consultants), and Scott Greytak (Deputy Executive Director, Transparency International U.S.) to expose how art-market vulnerabilities threaten American consumers—and even U.S. national security.

Art is increasingly bought and sold as a financial asset, yet it isn’t protected as such under U.S. law. Guided by moderator Nate Sibley, Director of the Kleptocracy Initiative at the Hudson Institute, the speakers underscored a growing and troubling reality: criminal networks, corrupt foreign officials, and sanctioned individuals are exploiting the opacity of high-value art transactions to launder illicit wealth.

Greytak noted that while other avenues for moving dirty money have been closed in the United States, “art is still a very much open avenue.”

A bipartisan solution is now before Congress. The Art Market Integrity Act would extend the same commonsense anti–money laundering protections already applied under the Bank Secrecy Act to other high-risk industries. Extending the BSA to art will provide much-needed consumer protections, helping to prevent fraud, promote transparency, and otherwise ensure that collectors, dealers, museums, and investors can participate in the market with greater confidence.

Watch the full discussion here.

Learn more about the Art Market Integrity Act.

On November 18, Antiquities Coalition Executive Director Tess Davis joined cultural heritage officials, law enforcement officers, and international experts for a UNESCO-led training on Fighting Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property in the Republic of Moldova. Davis delivered a presentation titled “Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property: From Illegal Excavations to the Market,” offering a comprehensive overview of how looted cultural heritage moves from the ground to the global marketplace.

Cultural racketeering is not an abstract threat but a global criminal enterprise that fuels corruption, finances conflict, and strips communities of their history and heritage.

To illustrate the realities of cultural racketeering—from the looting pits to the auction stand—Davis examined the case of Douglas Latchford, once celebrated as an “adventurer scholar,” later revealed as one of the most prolific traffickers of Khmer antiquities in modern times.

Key Takeaways 

1. Cultural racketeering is intertwined with transnational organized crime. The illicit trade depends on the same networks that drive trafficking in drugs, weapons, and wildlife.
2. Latchford’s network demonstrates the extreme vulnerability of archaeological sites during armed conflict. The opacity of the international art market provides dealers and collectors with the illusion of legitimate trade—shielding them from the violent origins of the artifacts they buy.
3. Illegal excavations leave lasting scars. While the return of many Khmer treasures is deeply encouraging, this process took more than fifty years—and countless stolen artifacts may never be recovered.

Stopping illegal excavations at the source remains the most effective way to combat the illicit trade in cultural property. And the strongest way to stop looting is to reduce global demand for unprovenanced antiquities. To end cultural racketeering, we must understand and secure the market itself. That means working collaboratively with the private sector, international policymakers, and law enforcement to strengthen protections across the entire supply chain.

The Antiquities Coalition is proud to support UNESCO and the Republic of Moldova in this critical effort to safeguard cultural heritage and disrupt the criminal networks that threaten it.

As part of the build-up to the G20 Summit in South Africa, last month saw the convening of the G20 Culture Working Group (CWG) in Zimbali, KwaZulu-Natal. 

On October 29, the G20 Culture Ministerial concluded the meeting with the adoption of the KwaDukuza Declaration of Culture. The Declaration prioritizes the CWG’s four guiding principles, outlining a collective framework for cooperation in preserving cultural heritage, promoting creative industries, and fostering cultural diversity and dialogue among member countries.

Addressing the greatest threats to cultural property, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture of South Africa stated, 

“…by adopting this Declaration, among others, members call for stronger and more effective global coordination to fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property; strengthening of national policy frameworks; and adequate public investment in the protection and promotion of culture.”

The Declaration affirmed the threat illicit trafficking of cultural property poses to cultural heritage and secure economies, highlighting cultural racketeering as a contributor to transnational organized crime around the world. The CWG laid out a roadmap for Members to fight the illicit trade in cultural property: 

• Build Capacity—Facilitate cooperation, technical exchanges, provenance research, heritage inventory management, and education
• Equip Specialized Enforcement—Establish specialized national and regional structures and tools, such as specialized law enforcement units and databases of stolen cultural objects, updated and interconnected with INTERPOL’s relevant policing capabilities
• Educate Key Stakeholders—Engage and educate dealers, cultural managers, museums, galleries, and auction house professionals, as well as law enforcement and judiciary authorities
• Explore Emerging Tools—Foster collaboration to leverage the potential of AI in the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property

The CWG also advanced calls for cultural restitution, with the Presidency inviting all G20 members “to support the establishment of an International Cultural Restitution Fund that helps with provenance research, storage, and repatriation logistics—especially for nations without the resources to do so alone.” 

Since its establishment in 2020, the G20 Cultural track has been a leading force in strengthening international cooperation against illicit trade in antiquities. The South African presidency recognized the work of past presidencies as well as other multilateral organizations in advancing culture on the G20 agenda, acknowledging that protecting shared heritage requires shared solutions.

In handing over the G20 presidency to the United States—the largest art market in the world—for 2026, Minister Gayton McKenzie entreats:

“We trust you to carry forward the work we have begun: to champion digital fairness for creators everywhere; to continue the restitution of artefacts and ancestral remains; to defend cultural heritage as a tool for peace; to make culture a permanent pillar of the G20 agenda.” 

The AC welcomes these outcomes, which reflect our own recommendations made in our Task Force Report, Safeguarding Cultural Heritage In Conflict Zones: A Roadmap for the G20 to Combat the Illicit Trade, published in 2021.

Read the KwaDukuza Declaration of Culture, here.