The Manhattan district attorney's office said in a statement Monday that Steinhardt surrendered 180 stolen objects valued at $70 million and was barred from acquiring any other relics for the rest of his life.
The prosecutor's office struck an agreement with Mr. Steinhardt after a four-year multinational investigation that determined that the seized pieces had been looted and smuggled from 11 countries, and appeared on the international art market without lawful paperwork.
The District Attorney said that Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artifacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold, or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe.
Mr. Steinhardt is a major contributor to New York University and to numerous Jewish philanthropies. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have Steinhardt galleries.
Andrew J. Levander said in a statement that Mr. Steinhardt was pleased that the District Attorney had concluded his investigation without any charges. Many of the dealers that Mr. Steinhardt bought these items from made representations about their legal title to the items. Mr. Steinhardt has the right to seek compensation from the dealers who made false representations.
Some of the seized antiquities were in the possession of antiquities traffickers, including two who have been convicted in Italy. They said the investigation showed that 101 items covered in dirt and encrustations were identifiable in photographs found in the possession of known traffickers.
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A golden bowl was taken from Iraq.
The associate professor at the University of Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies inDenmark said that traffickers use photos of their wares to sell them to small groups of wealthy people. About 60 researchers, investigators and foreign law enforcement officials were credited by the prosecutors' office with assisting in the case.
The office of the Manhattan District Attorney said that prosecutors executed 17 search warrants and worked with officials in 11 countries.
The agreement would allow for the items to be returned to their rightful owners rather than being held as evidence if Mr. Steinhardt abides by all of its terms. His office would be able to shield the identities of many witnesses who would be released at any trial.
The case and other recent seizures show that the office is prepared to seize objects based on a New York state statute that allows prosecutors to return stolen property to its rightful owners regardless of when a theft might have occurred.
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A larnax is a chest made to hold human remains.
Mr. Steinhardt had dealings with prosecutors in the 1990s. A federal judge ruled in 1997 that Mr. Steinhardt had illegally imported a golden bowl from Italy in 1992. The object was taken from Mr. Steinhardt's home in 1995. The judge rejected his contention that he was an innocent owner.
Several ancient works were taken from his Fifth Avenue home and office by investigators in the year 2000. Mr. Steinhardt gave up the marble statue that was stolen from the temple in Sidon, Lebanon.
The case that was resolved on Monday was pressed by the formation of the trafficking unit. The unit has recovered more than 3000 items valued at $200 million, and at least 1,500 have been returned to their owners. Hundreds of objects are ready to be returned as soon as the relevant countries are able to receive them, and more than 1,000 objects are being held pending the outcome of criminal proceedings.
Mr. Steinhardt was accused of a pattern of sexual harassment by several women who worked for the nonprofits he supported.
The items that were taken from Mr. Steinhardt were mostly from Italy, Greece and Israel, according to a list compiled by investigators.
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The Ercolano Fresco of Hercules slays a serpent.
They include:
The Merrin Gallery of Manhattan sold a rhyton depicting a stag's head for over $2 million in 1991. The item, which dates to 400 B.C., first appeared on the international art market without provenance after rampant loot in Turkey. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was where Mr. Steinhardt lent it in 1993. It has been returned.
A larnax, or small chest for human remains, from Crete, was traced to Mr. Steinhardt through a financial institution based in Malta.
Robert Hecht, who had faced accusations of trafficking in antiquities with no prior provenance, had purchased the Ercolano Fresco for $650,000 in 1995. It depicts an infant Hercules killing a snake sent by Hera to slay him. The fresco was taken from a Roman villa near Naples in 1995.
The gold bowl was purchased without provenance papers in July 2020 at a time when the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant was moving objects from the country. A Customs and Border Protection officer told Mr. Vance that someone on a flight from Hong Kong to Newark was carrying the bowl for Mr. Steinhardt.
The Israeli authorities recovered photographs of three stone death masks that appeared to be encrusted with soil. Mr. Steinhardt bought them for $400,000 in October 2007.
Mr. Steinhardt's art collection was valued at $200 million, and he owned and traded more than 1,000 antiquities.
