## Facts

- A Florida fossil dealer imported a nearly complete Tyrannosaurus bataar (Tarbosaurus) skeleton into the United States, routing it through the United Kingdom.
- Import paperwork declared the fossil’s country of origin as Great Britain.
- The skeleton was consigned to a New York auction house and sold for more than $1 million; the proceeds were frozen after Mongolia asserted an ownership claim.
- The United States filed a verified civil forfeiture action against the skeleton (in rem), alleging forfeiture under 18 U.S.C. § 981 and related customs/anti-smuggling provisions.
- The Government alleged the fossil was “stolen” because Mongolian law vested ownership of dinosaur fossils in the Mongolian state and restricted their removal without permission.
- The claimant moved to dismiss, disputing whether Mongolian law created state ownership cognizable in a U.S. forfeiture case and disputing whether the Government adequately linked the skeleton to Mongolia (given possible fossil sources in China and assertions that the specimen was assembled from multiple components).
- The court issued a memorandum and order managing the pleadings stage, including whether the Government should be permitted to amend to add detail on Mongolian law and provenance evidence.
- The Government later filed an amended verified complaint adding foreign-law materials and expert paleontological assertions tying the specimen to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert.
- In later related proceedings, the claimant pleaded guilty to criminal charges tied to fossil smuggling and agreed to relinquish claims; the skeleton was later forfeited and repatriated.

## Issues

1. Whether the Government plausibly stated a civil forfeiture claim based on alleged customs fraud and smuggling violations in importing the fossil.
2. Whether alleged Mongolian constitutional and statutory provisions vesting state ownership in dinosaur fossils could serve as a predicate for treating the fossil as “stolen” property under U.S. forfeiture and customs statutes.
3. Whether the Government’s allegations of Mongolian origin were sufficiently pleaded, given disputes about geographic source and specimen assembly.
4. Whether leave to amend should be granted and motion-to-dismiss briefing stayed to permit a single, fully developed operative complaint.

## Decision

- The court granted the United States leave to amend its verified forfeiture complaint.
- The court stayed further briefing on the claimant’s motion to dismiss pending the amended pleading.
- The court indicated the amended complaint would be treated as the Government’s strongest effort to plead a claim consistent with the known facts, limiting serial repleading.
- The order allowed the case to proceed on a more detailed record regarding foreign law and scientific provenance evidence, rather than ending the case at the initial pleading stage.

## Legal Principles

- Civil forfeiture may proceed against property allegedly involved in or traceable to customs fraud, smuggling, or materially false import declarations, including false country-of-origin statements.
- A foreign nation’s patrimony law may supply the ownership element for “stolen property” theories when the foreign law clearly vests ownership of a defined category of cultural or natural heritage items in the state and restricts unauthorized export.
- At the pleading stage, detailed allegations supported by expert reports may be used to connect a fossil to a particular geographic source and to support an inference of unlawful export under foreign law.
- Courts have broad discretion to grant leave to amend and to manage motion practice to avoid piecemeal litigation, particularly in forfeiture cases involving foreign law and technical evidence.

## Conclusion

The court did not enter a final forfeiture judgment in the 2012 order; instead, it stayed dismissal briefing and permitted the Government to amend to more fully plead a forfeiture theory based on alleged false import declarations and alleged Mongolian state ownership of dinosaur fossils, allowing the litigation to proceed on an expanded factual and legal record.


United States v. One Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton, No. 12 Civ. 4760 (PKC), 2012 WL 5834899 (S.D.N.Y. 2012)