Federal prosecutors say Hobby Lobby Stores has agreed to pay a $3-million federal fine and forfeit thousands of ancient Iraqi artifacts smuggled from the Middle East that the government alleges were intentionally mislabeled. Hobby Lobby executed an agreement to purchase more than 5,500 artifacts in December 2010 for $1.6 million. In September 2011, a package containing about 1,000 clay bullae, an ancient form of inscribed identification, was received by Hobby Lobby from an Israeli dealer. Prosecutors say Hobby Lobby has agreed to adopt internal policies for importing cultural property and training its personnel. Green said Hobby Lobby began acquiring a variety of historical Bibles and other artifacts in 2009.

Source: Los Angeles Times July 05, 2017 23:56 UTC