Kim Kardashian’s sexy 2018 Met Gala photo ‘helped solve case of missing $4M gold Egyptian coffin’
KIM Kardashian's regular selfie-taking landed her at the center of a criminal investigation involving a stolen Egyptian coffin, forged documents, and a wide-spread looting-and-trafficking ring.
The reality star isn't a suspect in the crime, but rather a key player in helping to solve the case.
In 2018, while attending the in New York City, Kim snapped a photo of herself standing alongside Nedjemankh's coffin sporting a gold outfit and heavy makeup.
During a recent episode of the podcast Art Bust: Scandalous Stories of the Art World, Ben Lewis — a British journalist and the show's host — revealed the photo got the star thousands of likes and served as key evidence in tracking down the coffin.
According to the podcast, the ancient piece, which dates back to the 1st century BC, was stolen and sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for $4 million.
The sellers used fake documentation in the sale.
FIT FOR A KING
The piece is not just any Egyptian coffin.
Nedjemankh was a high-ranking priest in Egypt and his resting place was elaborate as a result.
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The piece was six-feet-long and covered in gold — a feature Egyptians associated with the gods.
Nedjemankh's name was inscribed on the piece.
On the outside, the coffin features scenes and texts meant to protect and guide the high priest on his way toward "eternal life."
The piece also features thin sheets of silver foil on the inside lid, which also features the following inscription: "Oh gold! Oh gold! Oh flesh of the god! Oh flesh of the God! Oh fine gold! Oh fine gold!"
REWIND
Ben Lewis said on his show that the coffin was dug up in 2011 during the Egyptian revolution.
It found its way into the American museum's collection where Kim and other Met Gala attendees were able to see it up close and personal.
Shortly after Kim snapped a photo with the coffin, Manhattan assistant district attorney Matthew Bogdanos received an email about the selfie from an informant in the Middle East.
The informant reportedly received the photo from a member of the gang of looters responsible for stealing the coffin who was upset about a lack of pay for digging up the piece.
Kim's photo went viral, which is how the looter in question wound up seeing it.
Bogdanos had been working the case since 2013, gathering texts, emails, and other information related to the theft, and receiving Kim's photo from the informant was a pivotal moment in his search.
"There's no honor among thieves," Bogdanos told in an interview.
The photo alone wasn't enough to act on, so Bogdanos asked the informant's connection to send any digital images he had of the coffin.
The looter sent several photos from the moment it was excavated, and the law enforcement officer was able to match them to the real thing.
HOME AGAIN
The coffin was a huge score for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It was the star of an exhibition in July 2018 — just a few months ofter Kim posed with the piece.
Nearly half a million people flocked to the museum to see it.
After investigators learned the truth about the piece, however, it was returned to Egypt and put on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Nedjemankh was not inside the coffin, however.
Looters dumped the mummified remains of the Egyptian high priest in the River Nile.
They made one mistake, though: the looters left a finger bone inside the coffin.
It was still attached when the item appeared on display at the Met.
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Bogdanos received information about other artifacts that were dug up and, he believed, sold, but he couldn't match them to any other new acquisitions.
He was limited in what he could act on by jurisdiction as well.
The detective could only act on items in the New York area, meaning he could only nab looters for the coffin.
Bogdanos was able to dig up a lot of information about the artifact.
He found evidence showing that Dib wired money to local criminals and, in exchange, took "the antiquities to Germany."
A LONG HISTORY
The coffin made its rounds across the globe before winding up in New York.
In 2013, it was given to Hassan Fazeli, an antiquities dealer in Sharjah.
He exchanged emails about the item, according to Bogdanos, referring to it as "the yellow."
Fazeli also completed an export form incorrectly, labelling the piece as a Greco-Roman artifact in an attempt to hide its origins and the fact that it was illegally harvested and moved.
The coffin then made its way to a German dealer called Roben Dib, who managed the Dionysos Gallery in Hamburg.
The Times noted that it's unclear whether Serop Simonian, the gallery's owner, knew about the items origins.
Dib is responsible, according to Bogdanos, for restoring the artifact and faking an Egyptian export license that said it was legally exported back in 1971.
From there, the coffin was dispatched to Christophe Kunicki, a French antiquities scholar and dealer, and his partner Richard Semper.
It is, again, unclear if they knew of the item's illegal origins.
The pair offered the coffin to the Met, which agreed to pay $4 million for it.
Despite the criminality, Bogdanos noted that curators at the museum should have been more careful and meticulous when looking into the coffin's background.
Kunicki and Semper were arrested in June 2020 and charged with fraud, money laundering and forgery.
Their case has yet to go to trial, but the pair maintain they are innocent.
Dib was arrested. inAugust 2020 in Germany "on suspicion of art trafficking."
ALL APOLOGIES
Met CEO Daniel Weiss apologized to the people of Egypt in February 2019 while announcing that the item would be returned.
He also said sorry to Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany.
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Weiss said: "After we learned that the Museum was a victim of fraud and unqittingly participated in the illegal trade of antiquities, we worked with the DA's office for its return to Egypt."
The museum also said it would "consider all available remedies to recoup the purchase price of the coffin" and promised to "review and revise its acquisitions process."
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