High Desert Man Charged with Unlawfully Importing Ancient Mosaic

LOS ANGELES – A Palmdale resident was charged today with illegally importing a mosaic depicting the Roman god Hercules that is believed to have been made nearly two millennia ago.

Yassin Alcharihi, 53, was named in an indictment that charges him with one count of entry of goods falsely classified.

The indictment alleges that Alcharihi claimed he was importing a mosaic and other items valued at $2,199, when in fact he was importing an ancient mosaic worth more than that. The indictment also alleges that he misrepresented the quality of the mosaic and what the artwork depicted.

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Alcharihi will receive a summons to appear for an arraignment in United States District Court for an arraignment that will likely take place next month.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Art and Antiquity Investigations group and Homeland Security Investigation’s Los Angeles Public Safety Group.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mark A. Williams and Matthew W. O’Brien of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section, and Justice Department Trial Attorney Ann Marie Ursini of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.

The government is pursuing forfeiture of the mosaic, which was seized by FBI and HSI agents in 2016, in both the indictment and a 2018 asset forfeiture complaint being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Katharine Schonbachler.

As an insurance investigator with an art history degree, I'm often asked how my degree applies to my career as an investigator.

First, some of the most audacious thefts in criminal history revolve around arts and antiquities. Second because of the way the art market works, it is almost uniquely set up to facilitate money laundering and the international movement of diry money.

An example I like to give is a hypothetical 5", 12 lb. Ball of iron.

In and of itself, scrap metal value is about 4-5 bucks.

Throw a wooden base on it, sell it as a "cannonball paperweight," and you can probably get $20 for it.

Put a piece of paper next to it that verifies it is a cannonball recovered from the Gettysburg battlefield and you can probably get $100-200 for it.

Put convincing, authenticated paperwork with it that establishes it as the cannonball that took of General Sickles' leg at Gettysburg, and you're likely looking at 6 figures from a museum or seven figures from the right private collector. All for the sam cannonball.

Moreover, that $4-5 scrap metal and that million dollar provenance can be pretty easily transported across borders separately with minimal inspection or question, qnd paired up again at the destination.

What customs inspector would give a single tessar from a mosaic much thought?

Actually a high probability of it being stolen.

That quality of mosaic goes on the open market for far more then $12,000. Any museum would be glad to pay four or five times that for it. If you are talking private collector you are talking up to a million.

Yes, Floyd did commit armed robbery. That was not his first brush with the law. You need to look up his past. So, not a typo.

You should not lie to the government because it renders the social contract null. You have the right to be silent, but not the right to lie.

The founding fathers were in favor of both tariffs and punishment for perjury.

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