US billionaire to return stolen antiquities worth $70m

US billionaire hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt has agreed to turn over $70m worth of stolen antiquities and will be subject to an unprecedented lifetime ban on acquiring antiquities, the Manhattan district attorney has announced.
In return, Mr Steinhardt, a philanthropist who is chair of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life and co-founder of Birthright Israel – an organisation that sends Jewish children on free trips to Israel – will not face criminal charges for acquiring pieces that were illegally smuggled out of 11 countries including Egypt, Greece, Israel, Syria and Turkey, prosecutors said.