Thailand Museum Chief Arrested On Fraud Charge In Seattle

[Groongthep]

Monday, May 12, 2008 - Page updated at 09:32 PM

Thailand museum chief arrested on fraud charge in Seattle

By GREG RISLING

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The director of a Thailand museum was arrested in Seattle and indicted on a wire-fraud charge in connection with a federal investigation into looted Southeast Asian antiquities.

Roxanna Brown, a 62-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested late Friday while visiting relatives in Seattle and scheduled to speak the next day at the University of Washington.

She was charged with one count of wire fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison. Health problems prevented her from appearing in federal court in Seattle today, and it was unclear when the hearing might be rescheduled, prosecutors there said.

Brown, the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand, is accused of allowing her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms that were donated at inflated prices to several Southern California museums so collectors could claim fraudulent tax deductions.

The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said it didn't know whether Brown had an attorney.

Michael Filipovic, a public defender appointed to represent her temporarily in Seattle, said he did not know whether Brown had hired an attorney to fight the federal charges in California. He declined to comment on the allegations in the indictment.

She is the first person to be arrested in an ongoing probe into looted artifacts. Federal agents raided several Southern California museums and a Los Angeles gallery in January, searching for artifacts allegedly taken from Thailand's Ban Chiang archaeological site, one of the most important prehistoric settlements ever discovered in Southeast Asia.

An affidavit filed in the case said the gallery's owners, Jonathan and Cari Markell, used Brown's electronic signature several times to falsify appraisal forms. In one case, an appraisal for items to be donated to the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena claims Brown had inspected the items. The couple have not been charged. They have previously declined to comment about the investigation to The Associated Press.

The raids followed an undercover investigation by a National Park Service special agent who posed as a collector interested in various artifacts. The agent learned that some of the artifacts managed to pass through U.S. customs because "Made in Thailand" labels were affixed to them, making it appear they were replicas.

Court documents said the Markells and the agent met more than a dozen times and regularly e-mailed and called one another about antiquities from Southeast Asia.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

Edited May 17, 2008 by Crow Boy
changed sub title

[londonthai]

I don't think she would travel to the usa knowing that earlier that year some people were already arrested.

as I believe Roxanna use to run free weekly tours at the national museum in bangkok and it's difficult to be convinced that a person with such social status would take part in fraud

[TAWP]

On the opposite, people high up are more likely to take part in it.

[Tony Clifton]

Health problems prevented her from appearing in federal court

Ah yes, the usual technique of the ever innocent not showing up in court to defend themselves.

Guilty.

[geriatrickid]

I don't think she would travel to the usa knowing that earlier that year some people were already arrested.

as I believe Roxanna use to run free weekly tours at the national museum in bangkok and it's difficult to be convinced that a person with such social status would take part in fraud

Learn from he Conrad Black event. The wealthier and more connected people are, the more they think they are untouchable.

However, she doesn't strike me as someone having social status to start with. Yes she holds a Ph.D. from UCLA in Art History, but that doesn't make her a mover and shaker in the art world. Ceramics doesn't hold the same panache as other fields of study. I am unaware of any scholarly articles of acclaim that she has published. If you want fame in the art history world you have to publish. Giving freelance lectures or reviewing someone's book doesn't qualify.

The scam described is a common one in the art world, particularly when it is associated with moving stolen artifacts from place to place. Issuing false receipts for donations is also popular with charities and religious organizations, whereby someone donates 1000 units but gets a receipt for 5000 units. There's a small kickback to the issuing agent.

In this case, I have to give her the benefit of the doubt and work on the premise that someone may have talked her into this as an easy way to make some cash. Once they dig deeper, they'll most likely come up with an accountant and a lawyer at the center of the scheme. I have a feeling that if she is guilty, she's a small player.

She's in alot of trouble careerwise though. I expect that she'll be personna non grata in the art word. Reputable musuems and dealers steer clear of people like that.

Stings like this usually hold up in court because they tend to originate with a tip from a legitimate academic or musuem. The US PArks service isn't known for entrapping people as their mandate is different from narcotics control etc..

[A_Traveller]

Please note there is a report that she has passed away from a heart attack.

Regards

[A_Traveller]

Link to Seattle Times Article on her death.

A Thailand museum director who was indicted as part of a federal investigation into looted antiquities died Wednesday at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, apparently following a heart attack.

Roxanna Brown, a 62-year-old U.S. citizen, passed away sometime around 2:30 Wednesday morning. Prison spokeswoman Maggie Ogden said an autopsy was planned.

Brown, director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand, was arrested Friday while visiting a cousin in Seattle. ...

An affidavit filed in the case said the gallery's owners, Jonathan and Cari Markell, used Brown's electronic signature several times to falsify appraisal forms. In one case, an appraisal for items to be donated to the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena indicated Brown had inspected the items. The Markells, who have not been charged, previously declined to comment about the investigation to The Associated Press. ...

Her brother said she became interested in Southeast Asian art after visiting him in 1968 in Australia, where he was recovering from a Vietnam war wound. With a journalism degree from Columbia University, she soon made her way to Saigon, where she befriended many people in the international press corps, he said, and she travelled around Vietnam in the early 1970s visiting kiln sites where pottery was made.

She earned a master's degree in Asian art at Oxford University and lost one leg in an accident in Bangkok in 1980, he said.

She is survived by one son, who lives in Bangkok, he said.

Regards

Seattle Times

Edited May 15, 2008 by A_Traveller

[Carib]

Well, i am glad some of you guys are not on a jury, just a newspaperclipping is enough for......

Now she died because of a `possibly` stress related heart attack, are you guys going to scream hel_l and murder if it is now found out that she had nothing to do with it ??`

[Tony Clifton]

Well, i am glad some of you guys are not on a jury, just a newspaperclipping is enough for......

Now she died because of a `possibly` stress related heart attack, are you guys going to scream hel_l and murder if it is now found out that she had nothing to do with it ??`

Stress or guilt?

[geriatrickid]

Well, i am glad some of you guys are not on a jury, just a newspaperclipping is enough for......

Now she died because of a `possibly` stress related heart attack, are you guys going to scream hel_l and murder if it is now found out that she had nothing to do with it ??`

I'd be surprised if she was cleared.

-US Parks Service has an unblemished record.

-Very difficult to bring a case unless someone squeals because art world is a closed group

-Death might be lifestyle induced or due to the stress of the entire period suggesting she was aware .Very rare that someone just dies a day after being charged.

As I said, even if guilty, she was a bit player or a dupe.

more indictments to come so we'll see,but with key party dead, it will be difficult to close the case.

however she is reported to have had incriminating conversations recorded.

And no, I am not despondent over her death. Sorry.

[A_Traveller]

Well given the reports where the affidavits speak only of the use of her electronic signature {which with my background is not a fail safe} and that the Markell's were the only people spoken to {and recorded} I'd be inclined to stress.

Regards

By the by let me just note that her publications, by that well know vanity operation Oxford University Press, include the standard reference work on SE Asian Ceramics. Let's not be so ready to leap to judgement, just for once. Further, since apparently her son lives in Bangkok, maybe he might venture onto or find this site, so some decorum might not go amiss.

Edited May 15, 2008 by A_Traveller

[Scott]

Condolences to her son, other family members and friends on her passing.

It's certainly too bad that she didn't get the opportunity to either clear her name or explain her role in this situation.

[Heng]

Plenty of folks have been in this biz for a long time, both foreigners and locals pretending like illegally salvaged antiques are family heirlooms (which can be legally bought and sold). Very lucrative.

[Flatouthruthefog]

Well, i am glad some of you guys are not on a jury, just a newspaperclipping is enough for......

Now she died because of a `possibly` stress related heart attack, are you guys going to scream hel_l and murder if it is now found out that she had nothing to do with it ??`

I'd be surprised if she was cleared.

-US Parks Service has an unblemished record.

-Very difficult to bring a case unless someone squeals because art world is a closed group

-Death might be lifestyle induced or due to the stress of the entire period suggesting she was aware .Very rare that someone just dies a day after being charged.

As I said, even if guilty, she was a bit player or a dupe.

more indictments to come so we'll see,but with key party dead, it will be difficult to close the case.

however she is reported to have had incriminating conversations recorded.

And no, I am not despondent over her death. Sorry.

Hi Geriatrick. Flato here.

I agree with 99% of the good stuff you write, but have to say that I AM despondent over this bad/sad new.

'Roxann', as she was affectionately known around Thapae Gate, began the CM Hard Rock Cafe, long before the BIG multi-national of that name came to Thailand. Because she was first, she was within Thai law, and out-faced the big US legal guns and carried on. You can still see it half way down Loi Kroh, I think.

Roxann herself, always known as a world authority on ceramics, rode around on a small motorcycle. One night on Kochasarn as she was riding home, a 10 wheel truck (still allowed in the city in those days) hit her from behind, and she and the bike hit the ground.

Witnesses at the time said that the truck driver stopped and walked back and appeared shocked that she was a farang. He then got back in his cab and reversed over her in an apparent attempt to ensure she was dead, before vanishing for good. THAT is how she lost her leg. Not in Bkk. OK?

All very sad. She was an eccentric yet talented and popular woman around here. RIP.

[sabaijai]

I knew Roxanna as well. RIP, my condolences to family and friends.

[khonjaidee]

Roxanna was my good friend. She will be remembered for the acts of goodness that she performed. Condolences to her son, Jaime, and her Thai family members who looked after her for years.

Here is her story told by her brother over YouTube.

[LiveSteam]

I know several people who know her for a long long time and they have said nothing but very nice and good things about her. Maybe she had a gun at her head when those Park Service recordings were made.

LiveSteam

[A_Traveller]

Just to note according to the reports she was not recorded nor part of any meetings, the allegation was that her digital signature had been used inappropriately.

Regards

[LomSak27]

'Roxann', as she was affectionately known around Thapae Gate, began the CM Hard Rock Cafe, long before the BIG multi-national of that name came to Thailand. Because she was first, she was within Thai law, and out-faced the big US legal guns and carried on. You can still see it half way down Loi Kroh, I think.

So what you are saying is she got the idea from Hard Rock cafes in the US and started the number in CM: wow I am impressed. Uh, come to think of it that is not the best character reference as regards this current incident now is it? As for the LK HR, they changed it and kicked out some of the old staff three years ago.

[sabaijai]

From an FCCT announcement:

Roxanna M. Brown, 1946-2008

FCCT Life Member Roxanna M. Brown died suddenly of a suspected heart attack in Seattle on Wednesday morning while assisting with a US federal investigation into pilfered Oriental works of art.

Roxanna was a familiar figure in the Southeast Asian journalistic community after first coming out to Asia in 1968 during the Vietnam War in which her brother Fred was a combatant. In the early 1970s, she traveled around kiln sites in the region, developing a noted expertise in ceramics which she consolidated with a master's degree in Asian art from Oxford University. Her highly respected works included The Ceramics of Southeast Asia, published in 1977. While working as a journalist in Bangkok in 1982, she lost a leg in a road accident but persevered against huge physical odds with her academic career. At the time of her death, she was director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University.

The FCCT will publish a fuller appreciation of Roxanna’s life as more details become available.

[photojourn]

It's about time some of the old crusties who inhabit this forum got off their high horses and refrained from setting themselves up as judge, jury and executioner so often.

It's quiet appalling to see so many people readily jumping in to condemn someone and pronounce them guilty based on a newspaper report.

The number of positive reports and comments posted here about Roxanna Brown should at least serve to teach some people to ensure their brain is engaged before putting their mouth into gear in relation to news reports.

[toptuan]

Mods, need to change the subtitle: An autopsy determines she died of peritonitis resulting from a perforated ulcer. No heart attack. The Seattle Times, Friday, May 16, 2008

edit: added link

Edited May 17, 2008 by toptuan

[Crow Boy]

.Very rare that someone just dies a day after being charged.

Used to be a regular event with hill tribe boys who tie their hands behind their back before hanging themselves in a jail cell.

CB

[Crow Boy]

Mods, need to change the subtitle: An autopsy determines she died of peritonitis resulting from a perforated ulcer. No heart attack. The Seattle Times, Friday, May 16, 2008

edit: added link

sub title changed as requested

CB

[Ijustwannateach]

I attended one of her lectures just 2 months ago, and find all of this news pretty shocking. Considering how rife computer-related crime is here (and identity/qualification theft), I wouldn't be surprised if she is the victim of some manipulation.

[Tony Clifton]

I'm sure just as many were fond of TAT Governor Juthamas Siriwan before her arrest related to the Bangkok Film Festival.

High horses my a55, this is the 2nd most corrupt country, those claiming her innocence are no better for posting their verdict before an investigation is over.

Computer crime here is not yet as rampant as the omni-present corruption amongst government officials. Even though they have been warned, plenty of government officials insist on using a Hotmail or Yahoo account for their work, making it easy for them to sell the password for a certian fee until their "customer" gets the information he needs, password is reset once "business" is done.

[LiveSteam]

Well, i am glad some of you guys are not on a jury, just a newspaperclipping is enough for......

Now she died because of a `possibly` stress related heart attack, are you guys going to scream hel_l and murder if it is now found out that she had nothing to do with it ??`

I'd be surprised if she was cleared.

-US Parks Service has an unblemished record.

-Very difficult to bring a case unless someone squeals because art world is a closed group

-Death might be lifestyle induced or due to the stress of the entire period suggesting she was aware .Very rare that someone just dies a day after being charged.

As I said, even if guilty, she was a bit player or a dupe.

more indictments to come so we'll see,but with key party dead, it will be difficult to close the case.

however she is reported to have had incriminating conversations recorded.

And no, I am not despondent over her death. Sorry.

Hi Geriatrick. Flato here.

I agree with 99% of the good stuff you write, but have to say that I AM despondent over this bad/sad new.

'Roxann', as she was affectionately known around Thapae Gate, began the CM Hard Rock Cafe, long before the BIG multi-national of that name came to Thailand. Because she was first, she was within Thai law, and out-faced the big US legal guns and carried on. You can still see it half way down Loi Kroh, I think.

Roxann herself, always known as a world authority on ceramics, rode around on a small motorcycle. One night on Kochasarn as she was riding home, a 10 wheel truck (still allowed in the city in those days) hit her from behind, and she and the bike hit the ground.

Witnesses at the time said that the truck driver stopped and walked back and appeared shocked that she was a farang. He then got back in his cab and reversed over her in an apparent attempt to ensure she was dead, before vanishing for good. THAT is how she lost her leg. Not in Bkk. OK?

All very sad. She was an eccentric yet talented and popular woman around here. RIP.

From what I understand from some of her long time friends she wasn’t hit by the truck initially. What I am told is she was riding her bicycle when a car hit her from behind and knocked her down to pavement and a 10 wheel truck following behind didn’t see her and ran over her legs. She was lying in the road for a long time bleeding to death with cars driving around her when finally someone came to help her. It was assumed she was dead but survived the ordeal, they had to amputate one of her legs.

Although she was a character, most believe it’s not her nature to do anything illegal.

LiveSteam

[younghusband]

Health problems prevented her from appearing in federal court

Ah yes, the usual technique of the ever innocent not showing up in court to defend themselves.

Guilty.

To be honest I always considered you to be a deluded obsessive, but not particularly unpleasant.Seems I was wrong on the latter count.

[bannork]

Ihave to agree with Young Husband on this one. I used to enjoy Toni's posts but he seems to have turned into a real Thai hater. What is it with some? Must be the area they live in.

[Tony Clifton]

Health problems prevented her from appearing in federal court

Ah yes, the usual technique of the ever innocent not showing up in court to defend themselves.

Guilty.

To be honest I always considered you to be a deluded obsessive, but not particularly unpleasant.Seems I was wrong on the latter count.

Ihave to agree with Young Husband on this one. I used to enjoy Toni's posts but he seems to have turned into a real Thai hater. What is it with some? Must be the area they live in.

Is it not common practice at all for wealthy Thais to not appear in court citing health reasons?

I seem to remember about a dozen just off hand.