Kim Kardashain is Somehow Caught Up in an Ancient Roman Statue Smuggling Scandal

Reality star, businesswoman, and future lawyer Kim Kardashian may be considered a jack of all trades, but it’s unlikely anyone saw alleged statue smuggler popping up on her list of achievements.

While Kardashian has already denied the claims, the star was named in a court filing regarding an ancient Roman statue that was allegedly smuggled out of Italy five years ago.

According to court documents filed in California last week, the United States government is seeking the forfeiture of a “looted, smuggled and illegally exported” statue that officials believe was sent to Kardashian. The statue is also listed as the defendant of the case.

The antique was seized at the Los Angeles port in June 2016 under suspicion that its entry violated the Cultural Property Implementation Act — and now, Italian officials want the relic back.

A spokesperson has denied Kardashian’s involvement, telling the Daily Mail that “Kim never purchased this piece and this is the first that she has learned of its existence.”

“We believe that it may have been purchased using

her name without authorization and because it was never received (and) she was unaware of the transaction,” the spokesperson added in a statement to CNN. “We encourage an investigation and hope that it gets returned to the rightful owners.”

The suit identifies the statue as “Fragment of Myron’s Samian Athena, Limestone, Roman, 1st – 2nd century A.D,” and it dates back to 1st or 2nd century AD.

So how exactly is Kardashian involved? The documents claim that a form submitted by a customs broker listed the importer of the items as “Kim Kardashian dba [doing business as] Noel Roberts Trust,” of Woodland Hills, California. The Noel Roberts Trust is an entity tied to Kardashian and Kanye West’s U.S. real estate purchases.

The court documents also identify one of the item’s shippers as art dealer and interior designer Axel Vervoordt, who has worked with the estranged couple on many of their properties, including a home built around the same time the statue was allegedly smuggled.

A representative for Vervoodt told CNN that “there is no evidence that this piece was illegally imported from Italy,” adding, “Our client, as well as our gallery and the gallery from whom we’ve bought the piece, have always acted in good faith when dealing with the work.”

Despite the statement, US Customs and Border Protection seized the sculpture due to conflicting information about its origins, and the court document

claims that invoices for the item describe two different statues, one from Germany and the other from Italy.

The documents additionally include a photograph of what looks like the statue at Vervoordt’s booth at an art fair in 2011, a year before he says he bought it.