Nancy Wiener
{{Notability|Bio|date=November 2024}}
Nancy Wiener is an antiquities dealer who pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and possession of stolen property.{{Cite news |last=Mashberg |first=Tom |date=2021-10-05 |title=Antiquities Dealer Pleads Guilty for Role in Sale of Looted Items |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/arts/design/antiquities-dealer-looted-items-pleads-guilty.html |access-date=2023-11-09 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=New York Art Dealer Pleads Guilty to Having Dealt Stolen Art |url=https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/15302-new-york-art-dealer-pleads-guilty-to-having-dealt-stolen-art |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=www.occrp.org |language=en-GB}}
Art dealing
Daughter of art dealer Doris Wiener (d. April 6, 2011), Nancy Wiener also worked as an art dealer in New York.{{Cite web |date=2022-11-07 |title=Stolen statue linked to antiquities trafficker Doris Wiener repatriated to Cambodia |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/11/07/stolen-cambodia-statue-vishnu-repatriated |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=The Art Newspaper}}{{Cite news |last=Cotter |first=Holland |date=2010-03-18 |title=More Gods, Saints and Epic Flying Heroes |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/arts/design/19basia.html |access-date=2023-12-01 |issn=0362-4331}}
A joint federal and state investigation into antiquities trafficking known as "Hidden Idol" resulted in the criminal lawsuit People of the State of New York v. Nancy Wiener, No. SCI-05191-2016 (N.Y. Crim. Ct. filed Dec. 21, 2016). {{Cite web |title=International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR)-Case Summary-People of New York v. Wiener |url=https://www.ifar.org/case_summary.php?docid=1497375909 |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=www.ifar.org}}
Wiener was arrested in Manhattan December 2016 and charged with conspiring with international smuggling and trafficking looted objects.{{Cite web |date=2016-12-21 |title=UPDATED > Manhattan Dealer Nancy Wiener Arrested: Criminal Complaint Alleges Sweeping Conspiracy to Sell Stolen Asian Art Through Major Auction Houses |url=https://chasingaphrodite.com/2016/12/21/breaking-manhattan-dealer-nancy-wiener-arrested-criminal-complaint-alleges-sweeping-conspiracy-to-sell-stolen-asian-art-through-major-auction-houses/ |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=CHASING APHRODITE |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Buffenstein |first=Alyssa |date=2016-12-22 |title=Antiquities Dealer Arrested for Laundering Looted Objects |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-york-antiquities-dealer-arrested-for-laundering-looted-objects-793622 |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Mashberg |first=Tom |date=2016-12-22 |title=Prominent Antiquities Dealer Accused of Selling Stolen Artifacts |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/arts/design/prominent-antiquities-dealer-accused-of-selling-stolen-artifacts.html |access-date=2023-11-09 |issn=0362-4331}} Her gallery sold art to clients including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum, Art Institute of Chicago and National Gallery of Australia.{{Cite web |last=Hersher |first=Rebecca |title=New York Gallery Owner Arrested, Accused Of Trafficking Stolen Antiquities |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/22/506615096/gallery-owner-arrested-for-trafficking-stolen-antiquities-worth-millions-of-doll |website=NPR}}{{Cite web |title=Paid Notice: Deaths WIENER, DORIS |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E5DB163AF933A25757C0A9679D8B63 |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=The New York Times |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Peter |first=Whoriskey |title=Global hunt for looted treasures leads to offshore trusts |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/met-museum-cambodian-antiquities-latchford/ |website=washingtonpost.com |quote=Museums holding antiquities linked to Latchford. The reporting team tracked relics that museums received directly through Douglas Latchford, and the Doris and Nancy Wiener gallery or the London auction house Spink & Son, which prosecutors say helped him sell looted antiquities.}}{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Anne |date=2023-08-02 |title=National Gallery of Australia hands back ninth-century Cambodian sculptures it believes were stolen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/03/national-gallery-of-australia-hands-back-ninth-century-cambodian-sculptures-it-believes-were-stolen |access-date=2024-11-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |quote=In 2014 questions arose about a prized item in the NGA collection: a 2nd century Kushan period Seated Buddha from southern India bought in 2007 from a New York dealer, Nancy Wiener, for $US1.08m. Unable to allay the NGA’s concerns, Wiener agreed to return the money. Together they donated the Seated Buddha to the Indian government. In 2016 Wiener was charged with dealing in stolen antiquities, including the Seated Buddha, finally pleading guilty in 2021. The indictment referred to “co-conspirator no 1”, which the New York Times reported referred to Latchford.}}
False provenance for looted art
Wiener acknowledged in court that she used fake provenances to conceal the true origins of the looted objects. She was ordered to pay $1.2 million in forfeitures and fines.{{Cite web |title=International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR)-Case Summary-People of New York v. Wiener |url=https://www.ifar.org/case_summary.php?docid=1497375909 |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=ifar.org}}
Restitutions to India and other countries
Numerous antiquities that passed through Doris and Nancy Wiener have been restituted to India following criminal investigations.{{Cite news |date=2022-10-18 |title=US restores 307 antiquities, valued at nearly $4 million, to India |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/us-restores-307-antiquities-valued-at-nearly-4million-to-india/articleshow/94934687.cms |access-date=2023-12-01 |issn=0971-8257}}{{Cite web |last=Cassady |first=Daniel |date=2023-05-04 |title=Missing Idol of Lord Shiva Linked to Dealer Who Pleaded Guilty To Trafficking Stolen Antiquities in 2021 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/missing-idol-of-lord-shiva-doris-weiner-cleveland-museum-art-1234666772/ |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2023-10-31 |title=Two Sculptures Returned to Republic of India in 2019 and 2022 |publisher=Denver Art Museum |url=https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/blog/two-sculptures-returned-republic-india-2019-and-2022 |access-date=2023-12-01 |language=en}} Cultural heritage artworks looted from Cambodia and Myanmar have also been investigated and in some cases returned.{{Cite web |date=2023-09-20 |title=Denver Art Museum returns five Asian relics connected to disgraced NYC gallery owners |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2023/09/20/denver-art-museum-nancy-doris-wiener-looted-art/ |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=The Denver Post |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Dealer arrested for selling artefacts |url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dealer-arrested-selling-artefacts |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=The Phnom Penh Post |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Ho |first=Karen K. |date=2022-11-03 |title=Manhattan Prosecutors Return 7th-Century Cambodian Statue Sold by Dealer Doris Wiener |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/stolen-seventh-century-statue-cambodia-manhattan-district-attorney-doris-wiener-1234645453/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US |quote=On Wednesday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office announced the return of a Vishnu statue from a 7th-century temple to Cambodia. The statue was given over in a repatriation ceremony attended by United States ambassador Keo Chhea and a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations team. The district attorney’s office of Alvin L. Bragg said the Cambodian statue was broken and looted from its original location under Wiener’s direction. After restoration work was completed, the sandstone figure was smuggled into Manhattan through Thailand in 1995 and sold to a private collector.}}