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Criminal charges filed against American treasure hunter
July 7, 2004
Criminal charges were filed today before the Department of Justice against treasure hunter Philip Greco for alleged unlawful exportation of Philippine cultural properties.
In a nine-page complaint submitted to the Department of Justice, the National Museum charged Greco, an employee of the National Museum, four employees of a brokerage firm Freightbest, International and several John Does for exporting and falsifying commercial and public documents to aid Greco in exporting Philippine antiques.
Acting Justice Secretary Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez said Greco and his co-respondents can be held liable for Unlawful Exportation of Cultural Properties under Republic Act 4846 or the National Museum Act, Failure to Register Cultural Properties, falsification and use of both public and commercial documents by private individuals and Fraudulent Practices under Tariff and Customs Code.
On March 25, 2002, while Greco’s application was pending at the Cultural Properties Division, an attempt was made to smuggle out of the country 1,316 pieces of cultural properties undervalued at P200,000. These pieces were eventually forfeited by the Bureau of Customs in favor of the National Museum.
“We will pursue this case to the very end. This will send out a signal to those who would want to pillage our national treasures that the government is serious in preserving our national heritage,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez also added that she received reports that Greco was able to smuggle out of the country more than 10,000 pieces of cultural properties. These were supposedly about to be auctioned at a reputable New York auction house but they were pulled out when news about Greco’s illegal acquisition of said treasures broke out.
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