Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., has returned 16 antiquities valued at over $4 million to Egypt. In a ceremony in New York, Bragg said 9 of the pieces were recovered after an investigation into Michael Steinhardt, one of the world's largest ancient art collectors. Bragg said the Steinhardt investigation resulted in a lifetime collecting ban being placed on Steinhardt, a "first of its kind punishment."Rick Patel, Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, said that despite the success of this investigation trafficking art antiquities remains a " mulit-billion dollar criminal enterprise." The Consul General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in New York was also at the ceremony and joked that these type of repatriation ceremonies are becoming a yearly event for the government of Egypt. "Its safe to say that we can open an entire museum solely based on the artifacts repatriated via the support of the district attorney of New York, " said Howayda Issam Abdel Rahman.