A Bangkok dealer died under US indictment for selling looted Khmer statues, and his daughter gave the 125 pieces she inherited back to Cambodia

Douglas Latchford lived in Bangkok and was for decades a leading supplier of Cambodian sculpture to Western museums and collectors. He published books on Khmer art and was feted by Cambodian officials. US prosecutors alleged that he bought sculptures he knew had been ransacked from temples such as Koh Ker and sold them with false provenance. In 2019 he was indicted in the Southern District of New York for wire fraud conspiracy and other crimes. He was charged, not convicted. He died in Thailand in August 2020 while fighting extradition, and the indictment was dismissed in September 2020. The Pandora Papers showed he had set up two Jersey trusts, Skanda in 2011 and Siva in 2012, with his daughter Julia among the beneficiaries. The Guardian reported they were used to pass his assets, including the antiquities, to her without UK inheritance tax. In 2011 his book credited the Skanda Trust as owner of 80 Cambodian pieces. In January 2021 Cambodia announced that his daughter would give it her entire inheritance of 125 Khmer antiquities. One of them, a Shiva and Skanda, US authorities allege was hauled from Prasat Krachap at Koh Ker by looters with an oxcart in September 1997. In June 2023 his estate agreed to forfeit 12 million dollars in sale proceeds moved to Jersey, and a bronze Durga allegedly stolen from Vietnam. In December 2023 the Metropolitan Museum agreed to return 13 pieces to Cambodia.