Cambodia Receives Ancient Khmer Jewelry from Late British Dealer’s Collection After Negotiated Return

Cambodia received ancient Khmer crowns, rings, earrings and necklaces in an elaborate ceremony that included traditional blessings by Buddhist monks, CBS News reported. Cambodians viewed the pieces in person for the first time after they were recovered from the collection of the late British antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford.

60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper and a team traveled to Cambodia this week to examine looting at Angkor Wat and remote temples including one on Sandak Mountain.

American lawyer Brad Gordon, hired by the Cambodian government to recover artifacts, took the team to the mountain site where former Khmer Rouge child soldier Toek Tik described finding hundreds of jars filled with jewelry. Gordon met Latchford's daughter Julia at a pub outside London. She opened the trunk of a car in the parking lot and removed the jewelry from Tupperware boxes.

Latchford's family later agreed to return his entire collection under a deal with the Cambodian government. The Khmer Rouge took power in 1975 and killed or starved about 2 million Cambodians before losing control in 1979. Continued fighting left temples unprotected, allowing looting that supplied dealers such as Latchford, who published the book Khmer Gold: Gifts of the Gods.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York built a case against Latchford for theft of Cambodian antiquities, but he died before extradition from Thailand. Gordon said the returns represent restoration of national pride after the genocide.