Jean-Luc Martinez was charged on Wednesday in Paris with involvement in “organized fraud” and money laundering. Two of Martinez’s former colleagues in the Louvre’s department for Egyptian objects were arrested earlier this week, but were later released by police.
According to Le Canard Enchaine, Martinez is suspected of deliberately turning a blind eye to false provenance certificates for five antique items brought out of Egypt during the turbulent Arab Spring. Among other things, it will be a stone slab representing Tutankhamun, which was sold to the Louvre’s Abu Dhabi department in 2016. The total value of the objects amounts to more than SEK 80 million.
Jean-Luc Martinez left the post of head of the Louvre last year after working there since 2013.