Roxanna Brown, a renowned Asian antiquities expert linked to possible illegal trafficking in Southeast Asian art, has died in federal custody in Seattle.

There was no official cause of death listed, though her brother said he thought she may have suffered a heart attack, the Seattle Times reported Thursday.

Brown, 62, director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum at Bangkok University in Thailand, was arrested last week in Seattle, where she was scheduled to speak at the University of Washington.

Brown, who lived in Bangkok, was indicted in Los Angeles on a single count of wire fraud for allegedly allowing her electronic signature to be used on appraisal forms of items donated to museums.

Bookmark this news