NEW YORK _ Months after Hobby Lobby agreed to forfeit thousands of ancient Iraqi relics to the federal government and pay millions in fines, the company turned over an additional 245 artifacts, court papers said Wednesday.
In July, Brooklyn federal prosecutors announced a settlement in which the arts and crafts chain forfeited cuneiform tablets and other excavated ancient pieces.
Though an expert warned the company that the objects it possessed could have been looted, prosecutors said Hobby Lobby disregarded red flags. The company agreed to pay $3 million.
When turning over the initial batch, Hobby Lobby agreed it would forfeit any other artifacts it came across.
On Wednesday, federal lawyers told Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall they now had an additional 245 pieces of the past. That brings the total number of recovered artifacts to 3,839.
In July, Hobby Lobby's president, Steve Green, admitted the company "should have exercised more oversight and carefully questioned how the acquisitions were handled."
Cuneiform, one of the world's earliest forms of writing, is distinguished by wedge-shaped characters.
