Nicolas Cage agreed to return a national treasure of Mongolia.
FILE – Photography of April 9, 2014 shows the actor Nicolas Cage arriving at the premiere of the film “Joe” presented by Lionsgate and The Cinema Society in New York.
Photo: Photo by Charles Sykes / Invision / AP, file / AP in Spanish
A publicist for the lead actor of the film adventure “National Treasure” confirmed Tuesday that Cage was involuntary buyer of a dinosaur skull according to federal prosecutors in New York was robbed. Prosecutors announced last week they were seeking approval from the court to take custody of the fossil of 81 centimeters (32 inches) so it could be returned to the Asian nation, but did not mention the name of the buyer.
Cage purchased the skull at an auction gallery and auction house IM Chait, based in Los Angeles, and received a certificate of authenticity, publicist Alex Schack said in an email. After it was reported last year that the authorities suspected that the piece was stolen, the actor “fully cooperated with the investigation, even making an inspection by agents fossil” and subsequently accepted surrender, Schack said.
According to court documents, investigators believe the skull was looted in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and shipped through Japan to Gainesville, Florida, in June 2006, with a false customs label.
The piece was auctioned in Manhattan on March 25, 2007 and sold for $ 230,000 plus a commission which brought the total amount paid by the then anonymous buyer for $ 276,000, indicate the documents. It had been put up for sale as an “extremely rare” tyrannosaur skeleton Late Cretaceous Period, which ended about 65 million years ago.
“The huge set of serrated teeth is impressive and is in excellent condition,” said court documents quoting the auction catalog, which adds that the skull was 65% complete . “Overall, this admirable specimen is scientifically accurate and important.”
It was not clear if the skull has links with Eric Prokopi, a former trader fossils pleaded guilty to smuggling several shipments of dinosaur bones between 2010 and 2012 that had been stolen Gobi. Court documents say Prokopi had sold stolen fossil IM Chait Gallery has not been charged with any crime.
Since 2012, prosecutors have resorted to criminal and civil actions to return to Mongolia several dinosaur fossils among which are several tyrannosaurs and other skeletons, dinosaur eggs and small prehistoric lizards and turtles .
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