From Bloomberg, May 13:
Where Is Guinea’s Gold? A London Laundering Case May Hold Clues
A murky deal stretching across three continents raises questions about the city’s bullion market.
The government of Guinea wants to know what happened to three tons of its gold. The answer may lie in London.
In March, Guinean authorities arrested a former head of the central bank and charged him with embezzlement after the custodian of the gold, Belgian refiner Affinor BVBA, said it was unable to return it.
The arrest of Lounceny Nabe cast a new light on a previously unreported court ruling in London that showed the refiner, which held and sold the gold, had already faced scrutiny by UK police in a money-laundering case. Millions of euros the firm said it made from trading Guinea’s gold was transferred to bank accounts around the world, some of which could be linked back to the refiner. It prompted prosecutors to say there was “overwhelming evidence that the money was unlawfully obtained from international money laundering.” And it led to the seizure last year of 34 million euros ($35.2 million) in the country’s biggest forfeiture of crime proceeds.Now, worry is building in Guinea about the safety of its gold. And a murky deal stretching across three continents is raising questions about money laundering in London’s bullion market, where trillions of dollars in precious metals trade each year.
Affinor sold the gold to the Dubai-based trading arm of Turkey’s Istanbul Gold Refinery, according to court documents, and then transferred 50 million euros to London accounts of a South African law firm, where it was held in escrow for a Cypriot investment company. The money appeared to be far more than Affinor could have expected to make from the trade, Judge John Zani wrote in his 2020 ruling, raising concerns about its origin....
....MUCH MORE
Is three tons a lot of gold?
That seems like a lot of gold.
I don't care if you are talking avoirdupois or metric or troy that seems like a lot
Running the industry metrics through the slide rule: 1 tonne = 32,150.7 troy ounces x 3 x $1819.00 spot last = ~$175 million.
I thought it would be more valuable.
