Britain seizes $16M of dinosaur bones from Singapore-based businessman

By Reuters November 5, 2025 | 08:51 pm PT

British authorities have seized rare dinosaur bones previously auctioned for 12.4 million pounds (US$16.1 million), along with nine London apartments and other assets, from a Singapore-based businessman in a case to recover alleged proceeds of crime.

Fossilized skeletons of two Allosauruses and a Stegosaurus were among the assets seized by Britain's National Crime Agency in a settlement agreed on Wednesday with Su Binghai and his company, Su Empire Limited, under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The act lets British authorities recover property deemed to have been acquired unlawfully, even without a criminal conviction. The NCA gave no details of the allegations that had given rise to the case involving Su.

Dinosaur fossils are displayed at auction house Christie's in London, Britain, in his undated handout photo. Photo by Christie's via Reuters

The huge Jurassic dinosaur skeletons, around 150 million years old, had been bought at auction last year at Christie's for 12.4 million pounds. The auction house released photos of them at the time, resembling a display from a natural history museum.

There were also 11 Chinese artworks recovered in the case, which had been bought at auction in 2022 for over 400,000 pounds.

One quarter of the proceeds of the sale of the recovered assets will be paid into a bank account nominated by Su, according to a court order.