AC’s Tess Davis joins Whale Hunting Podcast to Expose Terrorist Financing and the Art Market
September 9, 2024
Tess Davis, Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition, joined a recent episode of Whale Hunting, “a weekly podcast that pulls back the curtain on the hidden worlds of money and power.” Davis and host Tom Wright, an award winning journalist and Pulitzer finalist who focuses on financial crime, dove into risks facing the global art market from cultural racketeering and related crimes like money laundering and terrorist financing. According to the show’s promo:
You’ve probably heard of blood diamonds, but what about blood antiquities? Today, most trappings of wealth–like cash, diamonds or gold–are subject to stringent regulation. But not fine art and antiquities. Somehow, the art market has escaped the toughest rules, becoming a favored global hub for dirty money. This week on Whale Hunting, Tom Wright is joined by Tess Davis, executive director at the Antiquities Coalition, where she leads work to tackle the illicit trafficking of antiquities and ancient art. It’s a trade used to launder money by Russian oligarchs and sanctioned terrorist groups alike. Together, Tom and Tess take a deep dive into the dark side of the art world, discussing the bad actors using art as their playground, the complicity of major institutions, and what can be done to reform the art business.
Previously, Whale Hunting featured Tess as an expert in their Dynamite Doug podcast and articles about the infamous antiquities trafficker Douglas Latchford, responsible for looting and smuggling countless Cambodian artifacts into the U.S. as part of the “the Killing Fields” genocide. Only recently have these crimes been addressed, as institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art continue to identify and return stolen works to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Listen to the full episode here.