According to the court documents filed on Friday, the statue, known as Fragment of Myron’s Samian Athena, was bought by Kardashian from a Belgian art dealer.
It has been assessed to be dating back to the first or second century AD.
The forfeiture claim, filed in a federal court in Los Angeles last week, says the statue was seized by customs officials after the import broker failed to provide sufficient documentation about its origins.
The statue was part of a shipment containing 40 objects weighing 5000 kilograms and valued at a total of $745,882 described as antiques, furniture and decorations rather than archaeological finds.
However, an Italian archaeologist who analysed the work in February 2018 concluded that it showed signs of having been from the Roman Empire.
There are no records of it being legally exported from Italy.
“Based on the information and scientific aspects the archaeologist provided, the archaeologist opined that the defendant statue was looted, smuggled and illegally exported from Italy,” the claim reads.
The US restricts the import of archaeological material from Italy in an attempt to discourage the looting and plundering of artefacts.
The statue is currently in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection, where it will stay during this case.
The government is asking a judge to enforce the forfeiture of the statue.
Kardashian, 40, is not accused of any wrongdoing in the documents, and there are no suggestions she knew there might be a problem with the purchase.
