FBI Investigating Hundreds of Missing and Stolen Items from British Museum: Report

The FBI is investigating the sale of hundreds of items purchased on eBay suspected to be stolen and missing artifacts from the British Museum, according to a new report published by BBC News.

The law enforcement agency assisted the Metropolitan Police with the recent return of 268 items from a collector in Washington, DC. The FBI also contacted a buyer in New Orleans by requesting information via email about two items purchased on eBay.

The email from the FBI agent said they were assisting the Metropolitan Police in its investigation over the British Museum’s missing, stolen, and damaged items. The buyer, Tonio Birbiglia, told the BBC that he bought the two gems from the same eBay account later identified by whistleblower Ittai Gradel as selling items from the British Museum’s collection for as little as $51.

Birbiglia told the BBC that he paid £42 for an amethyst gem depicting Cupid in May 2016, and later purchased an orange scarab-beetle gem for £170.

The BBC reported that neither the FBI, the British Museum, nor British police request further information from Birbiglia, and he is no longer in possession of these items.

The British Museum announced last August that ancient gems, jewelry, and other items from its collection were missing or damaged. Many of the items had not been catalogued or photographed by the museum.

The institution’s press release did not mention the name of the staffer that was fired, but the individual was soon identified by media as senior curator Peter Higgs. The museum is currently suing Higgs in a civil case. According to court documents, the British Museum alleges the thefts from its storerooms took place over a decade and sales of the ancient gems to “at least” 45 buyers generated an estimated £100,000 in total.

Higgs has not been charged or arrested and his family has denied the allegations.

The impact of the thefts at the British Museum has been immense, with resignations, testimonies at parliamentary committees, an independent review, as as well renewed calls for the repatriation of high-profile items. These include director Hartwig Fischer immediately stepping down instead of departing early in 2024 as previously announced; the subsequent departure of deputy director Jonathan Williams; the independent review’s 36 recommendations for the museum’s security, governance, and record-keeping operations; as well as plans for a complete documentation of the museum’s collection in five years at a cost of $12.1 million.

The lack of cataloguing of the museum’s collection also prompted the creation of a web page requesting the public’s assistance in locating some of the missing and stolen items. The BBC also reported that in some cases, collectors have agreed to donate items to the British Museum so that staff can assess if they came from its collection.

Out of the 1,500 missing, stolen and damaged items, the British Museum announced earlier this month it had recovered 626 pieces as well as located 100 more that had not yet returned to the institution.

The British Museum and the FBI did not respond to a request for comment from ARTnews.