Hobby Lobby Busted for Illegally Smuggling Iraqi Artifacts, $3M Fines
Feds Bust Hobby Lobby for Illegally Smuggling Iraqi Artifacts, $3 Million Fine
Source: ione / iOne
After years of investigation, the Department of Justice announced they’ve brought a lawsuit against retailer Hobby Lobby for illegally shipping artifacts from the Middle East.
The retail giant shipped thousands of smuggled items to its Oklahoma headquarters from 2009 to 2011 frivolously labeled as ceramic or clay, however the items contained ancient clay slabs, cuneiform tablets, or ancient seals that came from modern-day Iraq.
The Christian family that owns Hobby Lobby is accused of smuggling the items for the Museum of the Bible that is planned to open in November.
Their lawyer warned that items from the region could be obtained illegally from looted archaeological sites but they still took a chance that now comes with a price tag of $3 million and bruised image for the “Christian” family’s retail chain. Of course Twitter is having a field day with this fiasco.
https://twitter.com/matthewjdowd/status/882966896995434496
https://twitter.com/joekeene/status/882993778704998400
