[MSN] 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.

[MSN]

Asian antiquities expert arrested
Roxanna M. Brown had ties to gallery owners who used her signature to
falsify forms, affidavit states.
By RICHARD CHANG
The Orange County Register

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.
According to the affidavit filed in connection with the search of Silk
Roads, the gallery's owners, Jonathan and Cari Markell, used Brown's
electronic signature on several occasions to falsify appraisal forms so
collectors could claim increased tax deductions for objects donated to
museums.
An undercover agent posed as a collector and approached the Markells in 2006
about donating several Asian antiquities to museums for charitable tax
deductions, the affidavit states. Jonathan Markell allegedly told the agent
he normally charged $1,500 for an item or items that would be appraised at
just under $5,000.
Subsequently, the undercover agent met with the Markells at their home,
where he viewed a collection of Thai antiquities he had purchased from the
gallery owners for $1,500 cash, the affidavit said. The Markells showed the
agent an appraisal form purportedly prepared by Brown in which she claimed
she had inspected the objects and valued them at $4,990, the affidavit said.
The items were ultimately donated to the Pacific Asia Museum.
The wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Brown
is expected in federal court Tuesday morning, Johns said.
Brown was not available for comment on Monday. The Pacific Asia Museum is
closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and no one from the museum was available for
comment on Monday.
Jonathan Markell declined to comment on the matter on Monday. He referred
inquiries to his lawyer, John Vandevelde, who said in a statement, "Today's
press release by the prosecutors repeats three-month old information
involving the application of highly complex tax laws regarding the donation
of art to museums and the expert valuation of rare Asian art items. We
expect the many factual and legal issues will be resolved with federal
authorities in due course and until then do not think it is appropriate to
comment."
Brown, visiting the U.S. from Thailand, was arrested Friday by agents with
the IRS' criminal investigation unit and the National Parks Service. U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is also involved in the investigation.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California is
handling the prosecution.
The Bowers Museum has dozens of antiquities from the Ban Chiang culture of
Thailand in its collection that have been called into question. About 73
ladles taken from federally protected American Indian lands are also being
investigated. All those objects have been "seized in place," Johns said,
meaning that they are in federal possession but haven't been removed from
the Bowers because of their fragility.
The Thai and American Indian artifacts were acquired under late curator
Armand Labbé's tenure. Assistant U.S. Attorney Johns said the Charles W.
Bowers Museum Corporation, which runs the Bowers, is still responsible for
the acts of its employees, even if they are dead. Labbé died in 2005.
"If you take the situation where one of the curators is engaging in criminal
wrongdoing, that criminally binds the museum," Johns said.
Officials with the Bowers were not available for comment on Monday.
Contact the writer: 714-796-6026 or rchang at ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/

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