In July 2012, HSI San Diego received information from HSI New York regarding four illegally excavated antiquities from clandestine sites in Pompeii owned by the Allen E. Paulson Trust. HSI San Diego located and seized the three frescos, dating back to 63-79 A.D., and one askos, dating back to 4th century B.C. The trust administratively forfeited the items to the U.S. government so they could be returned to the Italian government.
A situla seized from Christie's in 2009 also came from the same source, the Alan E. Paulson Trust. Its collecting history can be traced back to the Summa Galleries in Beverly Hills (and subsequently the Royal-Athena Galleries in New York City). The names of Paulson and McNall coincide. It is not clear if the same ICE press release alludes to this earlier seizure.
During the course of two separate investigations, HSI New York seized two stolen cultural treasures from Christie’s auction house in New York. The TPC contacted HSI Rome to help locate a Lucanian red-figured bell krater (circa 420-400 B.C.) and other stolen artifacts. That tip led HSI New York special agents to Christie’s where they seized the stolen krater in July 2013.
It would be worth reviewing the full collecting histories of other objects that passed through the Alan E. Paulson Trust.