[Tlc] T-Roxanna Brown passes away in federal custody

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Dear All,

Judith Henchy just sent me this very sad story. Dr. Roxanna Brown has passed away in federal custody in Seattle. Her ceramics museum in Bangkok was very unique and her work there made it a major contribution to the world of Southeast Asian Art Historical Studies.

See the article below.

Best regards,
justin

Museum director in antiquities probe dies in federal custody
>
> By Mike Carter
>
> Seattle Times staff reporter
>
> A renowned Asian antiquities expert, indicted in Los Angeles in connection 
> with a federal investigation into illegal trafficking of pilfered 
> Southeast Asian art, has died in custody at the Federal Detention Center 
> in SeaTac.
>
> Roxanna Brown, the director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at 
> Bangkok University in Thailand, was found dead around 2:30 a.m., said FDC 
> spokeswoman Maggie Ogden.
>
> Brown was arrested at her hotel last Friday as she prepared to have dinner 
> with colleagues from the University of Washington, where she was scheduled 
> to speak Saturday, according to news reports.
>
> Ogden said the cause of Brown's death is under investigation. Brown had 
> complained of being ill after her arrest and her scheduled appearance 
> before a U.S. magistrate Monday was postponed because she didn't feel 
> well. Emily Langlie, the spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in 
> Seattle, said Brown was able to appear in court Tuesday and that her 
> extradition to Los Angeles to answer the charges was pending.
>
> Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns, the Los Angeles prosecutor heading 
> the illegal antiquities investigation, said Brown was "one of many 
> targets" of the probe. He declined to say how her death would affect the 
> investigation.
>
> Brown, 62, who lived in Bangkok, was indicted on a single count of wire 
> fraud for allegedly allowing her electronic signature to be used on 
> appraisal forms of items donated to museums. Those appraisals, according 
> to court documents, were inflated so that the donors could claim 
> fraudulent tax deductions.
>
______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu