Press Play with Madeleine Brand
What were antiquities from Iraq doing at Hobby Lobby?
In 2010, Hobby Lobby’s owners bought thousands of ancient Middle Eastern artifacts with religious significance. Those items had been illegally smuggled out of Iraq through the United Arab Emirates and Israel. That’s according to a settlement the company reached with the U.S. Justice Department earlier this week.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readIn 2010, Hobby Lobby’s owners bought thousands of ancient Middle Eastern artifacts with religious significance. Those items had been illegally smuggled out of Iraq through the United Arab Emirates and Israel. That’s according to a settlement the company reached with the U.S. Justice Department earlier this week. Hobby Lobby has agreed to forfeit all the antiquities and pay $3 million to settle the charges.
