CAIRO (Middle East Eye) – The former director of the Louvre art gallery in Paris has been charged with conspiring to hide the origin of archaeological treasures suspected of having been smuggled out of Egypt during the 2011 Arab Spring.  Jean-Luc Martinez was charged in Paris after being taken in for questioning, along with two French specialists in Egypt who were ultimately not charged.   According to a French judicial source speaking to AFP, Martinez was charged with complicity in fraud and “concealing the origin of criminally obtained works by false endorsement.”

Martinez, who was in charge of the Louvre in Paris from 2013 to 2021, is accused of turning a blind eye to fake certificates of origin for the pieces. 

According to the French investigative weekly Canard Enchaine, the fraud is thought to include several other art experts.