France: Former Director of Louvre Charged for Art Trafficking

On Wednesday, the former president and director of the Louvre Museum were prosecuted under the charge of art trafficking.

May 26, 2022

Jean-Luc Martinez, former president and director of the Louvre Museum, located in Paris, France was accused and prosecuted for art trafficking on Wednesday. After an investigation conducted on antiquities trafficking from the Near and Middle East, Martinez was placed under judicial supervision.

The French newspaper Le Canard enchaîné has revealed that the former director of the Louvre is charged with “complicity in organized fraud” alongside money laundering.

The inquiry is trying to clarify if Martinez “closed his eyes” to five pieces of Egyptian antiquity’s fake certificates of origin. Once into police custody, Martinez was interrogated by the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Property (OCBC).

Two eminent French Egyptologists, Vincent Rondot and Olivier Perdu, were released from any charge.

From 2013 until September 2021, Martinez directed France’s most famous art museum, after that period Laurence des Cars took over the helm.

The Louvre Museum and the Court of Paris have been called to testify on the matter.

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