Right-wing
“Christian” company caught stealing priceless artifacts from Iraq
By Will Collette
Even if you are not a hobbyist, you may remember the name of
handicraft specialty company Hobby Lobby for other reasons.
They were the ones responsible for the outrageous 2014 Supreme Court
decision that (a) affirmed that, yes indeed, corporations are people and
(b) as such, they have the Constitutional right to impose their religious
beliefs on their workers by denying them health insurance coverage for birth
control.
Many people, myself included, will not accept the concept that a
corporation is a “person” until we put one in jail. Hobby Lobby’s latest
escapade is a case in point.
The US Department of Justice has announced a settlement (full
text below) that calls for Hobby Lobby to pay a $3 million fine and forfeit
thousands of clay artifacts that were shipped to corporate headquarters in
Oklahoma labelled “ceramic tiles” and “product samples.”
The company paid around $1.6 million for over 5,500 artifacts from
the Sumerian civilization
that began in what is now Iraq over 5000 years ago.
The
BBC reports that some of these artifacts were intended for use in the pet
project of Hobby Lobby president, Steve Green.
Green chairs the History of the Bible Museum, under construction in Washington DC.
The museum, when completed, will be one of the largest in Washington.
I’m guessing there won’t be a section in the Museum devoted to
the Biblical prohibition, “Thou shalt not steal.”
Green used a very Trump-like defense of the indefensible:
"The Company was new to the world of acquiring these items, and did not fully appreciate the complexities of the acquisitions process. This resulted in some regrettable mistakes."
Here is the official
Justice Department news release. It shows Hobby Lobby not only doesn't understand it is wrong to steal, but also to lie.
United
States Files Civil Action To Forfeit Thousands Of Ancient Iraqi Artifacts
Imported By Hobby Lobby
Cuneiform Tablets Were
Falsely Labeled as Product “Samples” and Shipped to Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.,
and Two Corporate Affiliates
Earlier today (July 5),
the United States filed a civil complaint to forfeit thousands of cuneiform
tablets and clay bullae. As alleged in the complaint, these ancient clay
artifacts originated in the area of modern-day Iraq and were smuggled into the
United States through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, contrary to
federal law. Packages containing the artifacts were shipped to Hobby Lobby
Stores, Inc. (“Hobby Lobby”), a nationwide arts-and-crafts retailer based in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and two of Hobby Lobby’s corporate affiliates. The
shipping labels on these packages falsely described cuneiform tablets as tile
“samples.”
The government also
filed a stipulation of settlement with Hobby Lobby, in which Hobby Lobby
consented to the forfeiture of the artifacts in the complaint, approximately
144 cylinder seals and an additional sum of $3 million, resolving the civil
action. Hobby Lobby further agreed to adopt internal policies and procedures
governing its importation and purchase of cultural property, provide
appropriate training to its personnel, hire qualified outside customs counsel
and customs brokers, and submit quarterly reports to the government on any
cultural property acquisitions for the next eighteen months.
The complaint and
stipulation of settlement were announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United
States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Angel M. Melendez,
Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York.
“American collectors
and importers must ensure compliance with laws and regulations that require
truthful declarations to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so that Customs
officers are able to scrutinize cultural property crossing our borders and
prevent the inappropriate entry of such property,” stated Acting United States
Attorney Rohde. “If they do not, and shippers use false declarations to try to
clandestinely enter property into the United States, this Office and our law
enforcement partners will discover the deceit and seize the property.” Ms.
Rohde thanked U.S. Customs and Border Protection for its role in intercepting
shipments and safeguarding the seized antiquities.
“The protection of
cultural heritage is a mission that HSI and its partner U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) take very seriously as we recognize that while some may put a
price on these artifacts, the people of Iraq consider them priceless,” stated
Special Agent-in-Charge Melendez.
According to the
complaint and stipulated statement of facts filed with the court, in or around
2009, Hobby Lobby began to assemble a collection of historically significant
manuscripts, antiquities and other cultural materials. In connection with this
effort, Hobby Lobby’s president and a consultant traveled to the UAE in July
2010 to inspect a large number of cuneiform tablets and other antiquities being
offered for sale (the “Artifacts”). Cuneiform is an ancient system of writing
on clay tablets that was used in ancient Mesopotamia thousands of years ago.
In October 2010, an
expert on cultural property law retained by Hobby Lobby warned the company that
the acquisition of cultural property likely from Iraq, including cuneiform
tablets and cylinder seals, carries a risk that such objects may have
been looted from archaeological sites in Iraq. The expert also
advised Hobby Lobby to review its collection of antiquities for any objects of
Iraqi origin and to verify that their country of origin was properly declared
at the time of importation into the United States. The expert warned Hobby
Lobby that an improper declaration of country of origin for cultural property
could lead to seizure and forfeiture of the artifacts by CBP.
Notwithstanding these
warnings, in December 2010, Hobby Lobby executed an agreement to purchase over
5,500 Artifacts, comprised of cuneiform tablets and bricks, clay bullae and
cylinder seals, for $1.6 million. The acquisition of the Artifacts was fraught
with red flags. For example, Hobby Lobby received conflicting information where
the Artifacts had been stored prior to the inspection in the UAE. Further, when
the Artifacts were presented for inspection to Hobby Lobby’s president and
consultant in July 2010, they were displayed informally. In addition,
Hobby Lobby representatives had not met or communicated with the dealer who
purportedly owned the Artifacts, nor did they pay him for the Artifacts. Rather,
following instructions from another dealer, Hobby Lobby wired payment for the
Artifacts to seven personal bank accounts held in the names of other
individuals.
With Hobby Lobby’s
consent, a UAE-based dealer shipped packages containing the Artifacts to three
different corporate addresses in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Between one and three
shipments arrived at a time, without the required customs entry documentation
being filed with CBP, and bore shipping labels that falsely and misleadingly
described their contents as “ceramic tiles” or “clay tiles (sample).” . After
approximately 10 packages shipped in this manner were received by Hobby Lobby
and its affiliates, CBP intercepted five shipments. All of the intercepted
packages bore shipping labels that falsely declared that the Artifacts’ country
of origin was Turkey. No further shipments were received until September 2011,
when a package containing approximately 1,000 clay bullae from the same
purchase was received by Hobby Lobby. It was shipped by an Israeli dealer and
accompanied by a false declaration stating that the bullae’s country of origin
was Israel.
In executing the
stipulation of settlement, Hobby Lobby has accepted responsibility for its past
conduct and agreed to take steps to remedy the deficiencies that resulted in
its unlawful importation of the Artifacts. Hobby Lobby has agreed to the
forfeiture of all of the Artifacts shipped to the United States.
The government’s case
is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Karin Orenstein and Ameet
B. Kabrawala.
E.D.N.Y. Docket No.
17-CV-3980 (LDH) (VMS)
