New suspect in antiquities fraud

JERUSALEM – The former head of the antiquities laboratory at the Israel Museum is the fifth suspect in a forgery ring that allegedly produced a treasure trove of fake Bible-era artifacts, a government official and museum spokeswoman said Monday.

The ring has been accused of forging what had been heralded as perhaps the two biggest biblical discoveries in the Holy Land in recent years – the purported burial box of Jesus’ brother James and a stone tablet with written instructions by King Yoash on maintenance work at the Jewish Temple.

Justice Ministry spokesman Uri Steinberg named the suspect as Rafael Braun. He said he was the fifth person appearing in an indictment handed down by a Jerusalem court last week.

A court official could not say whether Braun had been located. An Israel Museum spokeswoman confirmed Braun was employed at the museum as head of the antiquities laboratories, but left in the late 1970s or early 1980s. An Israeli antiquities expert said Braun was working in Switzerland as an antiquities restorer.

The indictment accuses Braun and collector Shlomo Cohen of attempting to forge an inscription on an ostracon – a fragment of limestone pottery – from the period of the kingdoms of Judea from the 10th to 6th century B.C.

Also accused are three other men in the antiquities frauds — Tel Aviv collector Oded Golan; Robert Deutsch, an inscriptions expert who teaches at Haifa University; and antiquities dealer Faiz al-Amaleh.