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Gold Bars In France Worth $500,000 Robbed From Pensioner By Fake Cops
Gold Bars In France Worth $500,000 Robbed From Pensioner By Fake Cops
- Story of pensioner in Paris who has had US$500k of gold stolen by fake police highlights risks of storing gold in home
- Criminals impersonating cops gained access to home claiming to be investigating gold robbery
- 13 kilogram bars worth $500,000 taken, pensioner unharmed
- Gold owners must take precautions
- Greek depositors taking precautions by taking cash out of banks
A curious and sad story broke last night about a pensioner in Paris who had US$500,000 worth of gold bars stolen from his home by con-artists posing as police officers.
The criminals arrived at his home claiming to investigate a gold robbery according to Agence France Presse. The pensioner was asked if he had gold bullion and he told them that he did and allowed them into his home to inspect it.
While one of the robbers distracted the 69-year old with paper work the other stole his gold - 13 bars, each weighing 1 kilogram or 32.15 ounces each with a total value of US$500,000.
The story lacks details but if it proves to be true then it is a cautionary tale for owners of gold who take possession.
We have no details as to why he may have been targeted. It is unlikely that he was selected at random. The thieves must have had some information regarding his affairs. It highlights how discretion is of utmost importance when buying gold.
Storing gold in the home can be quite risky - especially in very large volumes. If one can afford to own €450,000 worth of kilo gold bars, one can afford storage costs. Insurance for gold held in the home is available although it tends to be prohibitively expensive.
We do not discourage holding gold in the home per se but it is essential to take certain precautions. No matter where one's gold is held one should not disclose the fact that one owns gold except to one's closest confidantes and indeed in a will.
It is also highlights the importance of buying from established and trusted bullion brokers who have a track record in terms of being very protective of client’s confidentiality and privacy.
Gold has a mysterious aura, pun intended, evoking folklore and mythology which tends to intrigue and fascinate people. People with loose tongues enjoy relaying tales of gold and its owners to eager listeners. One should be certain that one is not the subject of such tales which may fall on ears whose curiosity extends beyond mere gossip.
In the not unlikely event of a currency devaluations, negative attitudes toward gold will shift dramatically. In such a scenario criminals will become very interested in the affairs of gold owners. Some desperate governments will too.
Discretion is vital, not just to protect gold held in the home but also to protect against being forced to ship one’s stored gold home - to hand over to criminals due to intimidation or tiger-raid style coercion.
In the UK and Ireland in recent years, there have been many instances of the homes of Indian national’s being targeted by criminals in search of gold jewelry. These thieves are aware of the strong cultural affinity that Indians have for the precious metal.
When buying gold in volume to be shipped to one’s home it is wise to use a reputable broker who is sensitive to security issues. One does not want one's information being passed on to unknown third parties.
As with all investments diversification is important - even within asset classes.
If you are compelled to hold gold coins and small bars in your home as a kind of absolute bedrock insurance - and there are plenty of good reasons to do so - that is fine. However, be careful how this is done and other alternatives should also be utilised such as local safety deposit boxes run by reputable firms and the major international vaults in safe locations such as Switzerland and Singapore.
MARKET UPDATE
Today’s AM fix was USD 1,217.75, EUR 1,068.30 and GBP 788.60 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,206.50, EUR 1,059.36 and GBP 781.77 per ounce.
Gold climbed 0.22 percent or $2.70 and closed at $1,211.20 an ounce yesterday, while silver slipped 0.36 percent or $0.06 closing at $16.45 an ounce.
Gold made gains yesterday as buyers viewed the recent price falls as excessive and a buying opportunity. The U.S. Fed minutes released yesterday showed that Fed officials were cautious about raising interest rates too soon, hurting the dollar.
The Fed's dovish comments led to gold’s finish up 0.3 per cent on Wednesday after hitting a six week low of $1,197.56 earlier in the session. The close above $1,200 was positive from a technical point of view and emboldened technical traders to go long.
Spot gold last traded at $1,217.82 up 0.39% in late London trading while silver was $16.66 up 0.76% and platinum was also up 0.78 percent to $1,179.31.
The Greek debt saga continues and financial tragedy seems increasingly likely.
Greece officially applied for a six month extension to its loan agreement, Eurogroup chair Jeroen Dijsselbloem confirmed on twitter. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew contacted Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis yesterday and warned him that failure to strike a compromise would bring further hardship on the country.
Bank runs continue as Greek depositors rightfully fret regarding bail-ins or a return to the drachma. The prudent money is diversifying their savings so as not to be financially decimated.
Breaking News and Updates Here
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"Why yes, of course I have gold. It's on my boat! Funny thing about that boat... there was this lake, can't quite recall where it is, but the boat is there. And wouldn't you know it..."
Wow this started already?
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2014/11/dark-age-america-hoard-of...
to steal my stash
you would have to get by
the little ninja hard body that guards it.....
Moral of the story is if you have PM's don't be running your mouth about it.
Whaaat? But I told the whole town about it. Hey wait a second - the doorbell is ringing....
In America real cops rob the folks via asset forfeiture.
fake cops . Must be french central bankers .
fake cops . Must be french central bankers .
This should be illegal
HAHAHA! Who trusts the cops anymore (even real ones)? No guns, gold or extra food at my house officer. Only federal reserve notes in my wallet, and very few of those. Boating accident and all that nonsense ya know...
Americans need to give up their guns and be more like the French, Obama said so
Spade. Garden. Job done.
Oh and don't forget to also bury some old pig iron everywhere else in the garden you know just in case someone clever with a metal detector comes to steal from you.
Decent metal detectors will discriminate and can detect many feet into the ground.
Buried pig iron would just make me want to look closer.
It would be easy to find the gold in America's homes. Just pull up the public donation records of political campaigns and you will see who can afford to donate what and to whom. Of course do this at your own risk since someone who supported a candidate like Ron Paul would likely be armed and ask for a warrant but there's risk with each reward. Are you feeling lucky punk?
If you figure they have a gun, pull off a fake 911 or "safety check"... the cops will disarm them for a few days while you do your work. Use a long weekend so it will be an extra day before the judge gives the guns back.
ALWAYS put risk on someone else's shoulders, when possible.
France Needs Guns.
What kind of tool says "why yes! I have gold bullion!" "Come on in!" WTF! I dare say he deserved it. Talk about weak hands!
Im not convinced they were fake police.
why would anyone want to steal a ancient worthless relic like gold bars?
They were probably tipped off by the place who sold him the gold. I am sure the informant got a small percentage of the haul. Who knows the gold may end up back at the place that sold it to him to be sold again lol. I wouldnt be surprised bank managers tip off cops when a guy takes out a lot of cash and drives away.
>>>I wouldnt be surprised bank managers tip off cops when a guy takes out a lot of cash and drives away.
Fairly standard procedure in Buenos Aires.
So Germany finally got some OZ back then?
Just more proof that gold is a poor place to store ones wealth. #1 for ease in transactions #2 defensibility.
If they were "real" French police they would have only taken 78% of the gold and given him a receipt. (DSK needs fresh "equipment" daily)
They* criminalized owning gold before
One kilo of gold is worth $38,880.54 so 13 of them would be $505447.02.
Should have spent half of that on acreage and dogs.
Make it hard to get at, even for yourself.
Gotta jackhammer up the floor and doing so cuts a wire which triggers a silent alarm.
If you live near America's northern border, buy some in Canada, and bury it there.
Lose it in a boating accident and don't look too closely at the GPS coordinates. Mask the digits after the decimal point by adding those digits to a numerical key that only you know. Then encrypt the coordinates and give them to multiple family members, preferrably overseas, with instructions not to give the file back to you on less than a month's notice, and to call the cops if you use a keyword while talking to them. Or maybe you want to "keep it simple, stupid" and give the latitude to one person and the longitude to another person.
Set up a secure communications channel. Don't do your initial arrangements by email. Face to face is best. Consider randomly generated one-time pads, book codes, and steganography with an extra layer of encryption added. Your technique will depending on expected communication volume and computer skills on both ends.
Keep only a small fraction of your stash in a home safe so you can pretend thieves are cleaning you out. Keep an even smaller fraction of plated crap in a really cheap safe so you can pretend they got your dummy stash too.
If you think GPS and might be unusable during a SHTF scenario, then you can take photos that look like hiking photos, but you will secertly know which photos and landmarks lead to the stash.
Be creative. Whatever you do, make sure that the bulk of it is literally miles away from the first place that robbers (badged or otherwise) would look for it. Buy "How to bury your goods" by Eddie the Wire. He's a bit paranoid but he has good ideas. Mainly it's about confounding your enemies.
Diversify your portfolio with multiple stash points. There is no good situation in which you would want it all at once, on short notice, so why keep that as an option? In a real SHTF scenario most PM's should disappear, only to be mobilized later. Scrape by, pretending to be as poor as everyone else while dribbling out a small stash. If anyone asks, tell people that most of it was in a safe deposit box which Wells Fargo plundered.
Just be sure not to outsmart yourself or your heirs. Teach your kids geocaching, navigation, camping, math, dead drop spycraft, and computer skills. Will be useful anyway.
Use a variety of strategies because some might not be usable when SHTF.
A bit extreme NWC, but many very good points. The story (if true) is little different than the con artists that convince the elderly to part with their life savings (even if they are 'safe' in a bank!). Oprational security is critical, whether for your gold, your guns, your food, or your loved ones.
Always be sure your Colt .45 is under one of the gold bars.
...and something akin to a "Bike Spike" under or in another:
http://www.gizmag.com/bikespike-gps-bicycle-anti-theft/26691/
[A bike GPS tracker that automatically reports a crash to contacts, alerts you if tampered with, iOS/Android/Web friendly with open API.]
Always ....
Be a safe ZH'er.
...."the thieves must have had some information".......
'ya think?
Like I tell my old lady.....open your mouth ever to anyone....it's like you just signed our death warrant.
Further, if you don't own and know how to use firearms, you're an accident waiting to happen.
Tell NOBODY about your gold! First rule.
Especially cops.
That is if I was stoopid enough to even have any of the useless metal...
No, you are stupid enough NOT to have any
What gold?
Not even worth mentioning...
But if they were indeed genuine and not "tungsten filled" they were worth a helluva lot more than $500,000 USD!
$506k at today's gold price $1212/oz.
$506k at today's gold price $1212/oz.
Now that you mention it!....
"The Bullion Bank" keeps posting signs in the median of our highways where we live that have an asking price of $1,150.00 for gold bullion and $15.00 for silver bullion NOT SCRAP!!!
Someone needs to let that "bank" know that they need to make more of an effort to at least replace their signs with the fluctuations in the fraudulent price(s) of the paper COMEX!!!...
footnote:
And if they are ever recovered you can bet your sweet ass they aren't pure anymore and are in fact tungsten filled now -post confiscation!
As for storage anywhere....protecting information about the possession is more important than the safe.
Also keeping it all in one place is foolish. Insurance is ridiculously expensive and is a breach of 'protecting information'.
A few Benjamins and a couple of grams of gold in a night stand safe will look like the whole thing and d deter all but the most informed.
If it comes to torture you will have to have your stash split or be resistant to pain and the pain of loved ones.
I have spend a good deal of time thinking about this issue and I always finish my thoughts with a prayer: "dear Lord, please give me one shot...or more"
"Story of pensioner in Paris who has had US$500k of gold stolen by fake police highlights risks of storing gold in home"
NO, NO, NO !!!!!!!
Story highlights just one of the many hazards of trusting ANY government official, ESPECIALLY the Police !!!
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER tell the government the"truth". Do they tell you the truth ????
SELF STORAGE IS THE SAFEST !!!!
you just can not be a dumb ass a give it away
So you pay to store it at an officially sanctioned location and the real cops steal it instead. Same outcome.
No, the government would probably come up with some reason why you had to pay a fine, too.
The biggest and best safe in the world can't protect the Gold from the owner's stupidity.
'gained access'...without shots being fired?
At my storage facility it is a warrant (actually if they are serious they will have already broken the door down.)
When ever I get door visitors I make sure I'm armed and if it is the cops, and they have not seen me, I hide until they leave.
Pity what the world has come to but this case just proves that the world is getting suckier and suckier.
I don't want to take a life (and certainly don't want to kill a cop (the paperwork can be endless I hear), but whata ya gonna do?) And the 50 BMG is messy....but to use less would not be respectful.
Poor guy. He probably respected authority...or it could be a French thing.
I pity the fool that approaches my door with the intention to force entry. Last mistake they'll ever make. I too approach the door armed as I open carry at home just like I open carry everywhere else I go. Someone will end up in a body bag and I doubt it'll be me, but even if it is -- it will all be for nothing, my boat sank a long time ago with all the gold treasure on it!
"we don't call the police here "........
Luckily it was just tungsten
Like paste instead of real gems.