They belong in a museum

A Rockville Centre woman has been charged by the Manhattan district attorney with four counts of first-degree criminal possession of stolen property for her alleged role in her brother’s illegal acquisition and sale of antiquities from India worth millions of dollars.

Sushma Sareen, 60, is accused of moving and storing four bronze statues worth a total of $14.5 million that were smuggled from India to be sold by Art of the Past, a business run by Subhash Kapoor, Sareen’s brother. She was arrested on Oct. 7.

According to a deposition filed with the Manhattan D.A.’s office, the four statues, along with 10 other artifacts that were in the possession of Art of the Past, were stolen from the Varadharaja Parumi temple in Suthamally Village in India between February and April 2008.

An investigation by the Department of Homeland Security led to a search of Kapoor’s business and storage units he owned, during which millions of dollars’ worth of antiquities were recovered. Kapoor is currently in jail in India, having been arrested by Interpol in 2010.

When Homeland Security agents raided the storage lockers, they found documents that showed how the statues had been smuggled to Hong Kong from India in legal shipments of “new Indian artistic handicrafts,” the deposition stated.

Two informants said that Sareen had been familiar with her brother’s business for more than a decade, according to the deposition. She now has the power of attorney for Art of the Past, and is running the business with Mamta Sager, Kapoor’s daughter. One of the informants said that Sareen had been closely involved with her brother’s illegal dealings since his arrest, the deposition stated. The informant said she has traveled to India, assisted with wire transfers and contacted antiquities smugglers whom Kapoor had worked with.

Sareen’s bail was set at $100,000. Her lawyer, Scott Leemon, was unavailable for comment.