Michael Lauer  Ward  ( 1943  -  19.03.2025 )

Michael L. Ward was a disgraced American antiquities dealer and New York gallery owner. In September 2023, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal facilitation in the fourth degree for helping a Bulgarian trafficker launder and sell dozens of stolen antiquities—worth millions—from Greece, Italy, and Turkey. Prosecutors detailed how between 1999 and 2022 he received over 100 illicit items (around 80 confirmed looted) and provided falsified provenance documentation to authorities like the Art Loss Register, leading to the restitution of dozens of artifacts to their countries of origin. Egypt does not appear to be among the countries involved.