Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/PHNOM PENH: A trove of stolen Cambodian treasure, some dating back to the 7th Century, has been secretly returned to Phnom Penh after it resurfaced in London last year.
The stolen collection belonged to British antiquities smuggler Douglas Latchford who died in 2020 while facing charges in the United States for fraud and smuggling.
The returned items, which belong to Cambodia’s Angkorian crown jewellery, will be put to display in the country’s national museum in Phnom Penh. Latchford’s family promised to return his stolen collection to Cambodia after his death, but the authorities were not aware of what exactly would be handed over or how it would take place.
Collection leaves experts stunned
Experts say they had never seen most of the precious jewellery before and were stunned by its existence.
Brad Gordon, the head of Cambodia’s investigative team, became the country’s first representative to see the jewellery when he visited London last summer. He told the BBC that a represenative of the Latchford family drove him to a parking lot at an undisclosed location where there was a vehicle with four boxes inside.
When it was all unwrapped, as many as 77 pieces of gold and jewel-encrusted jewellery, including crowns, belts and earrings were found in the resurfaced collection. A large bowl, thought to date back to the 11th Century and, although it has yet to be tested, apparently made of solid gold was also found. Experts believe Angkorian royalty could have used it as a rice bowl.
