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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.
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Got the idea: don't store physical. You'll get robbed. Better stick with the paper.
just the beginning
Got any tips for cooking collard greens?
I'm picking a 5 gallon bucket per trip to the garden,
and really need some culinary diversification.
Hold on. I have to fix the floor of my security dog's house. It's inside the cage I keep him in outside by the motion lights. You know, the lights just above my bedroom window next to my gun safe.
I have to let some tungsten bars dry first. I just finished painting them, and I'm going to keep them in my front room closet hidden in some boxes.
what line of latitude do you live on? It's -30 wind chill here.
bluskyes:
North Central Florida. We're up to 50F, with a predicted 24F in the morning, but I don't believe it. Anywhere near that and the greens get a bit weepy; but they'll recover. I harvested last years seeds in JUNE! Selected only the biggest seeds, and the return is worth it. Cook and freeze 'em.
Either way, the wood stove is cranked to preheat the house before the honey comes home. Best to preheat instead of starting a fire when the sun sets.
Quit my job 5 months ago (software eng.) so I'm smokin' the "Honey-Do List"...
I just don't want to return to computer work (at 53). Sitting all day just kills me. But I'll likely look for "off-site" contract programming (C,C++) in a couple of months. Done it before, and it give me a chance to roam around the property contemplating buffer overruns and memory leaks.
Own 20 acres, so harvesting dead/dying oak trees keeps our heating bill at ZERO!
I've gotten really good at sharpening the chainsaws too.
(Enough info for the Data Harvesters)
My favorite way is slow cooked with a smoked hamhock or bacon.
Yep, that's the standard fall back.
I'm still amazed a packed 5 gallon buckets cooks down to 3 quarts, slow cooked for 3 hours.
Its ok to just put bacon grease in right? Found some in the back of the fridge.
(BTW: I'm just demonstrating the gold bottom is in cause I'ld rather talk about Collards...)
I slice them up some, slice up some onions and fry/steam them (lid on the frying pan) nice and slow for about 20 minutes. Either soy sauce or apple cider vinegar with a little salt and you're good to go. Some of my kids will even eat them just like that.
Don't forget a dash of vinegar.
Bacon grease will work in a pinch but something about the smoky flavor of a hamhock. Another good way is with sliced kielbasa, cooked similar to cabbage. Add thin sliced onion too if you like them.
A couple of gold bars in the bottom of the pot..., may not add to the greens, but would protect the gold from prying cops.
Especially that bucket you use to clean out the dog crap from the dog's cage.
They just need to search for the most notorious "relic" hunters. Caper solved! Oh wait, aren't central banks the primary large holders of barbarous relics? That ALONE should say everything about gold.
Death to the moneychangers!!!
The first thing the old guy should have said, is gold? what gold?
yeah wtf. the first rule of storing gold is to buy a boat. this is basic shit.
Maybe he could have acted a little crazy too. Drooling on himself a little bit, with wide eyes - he could picked up a kitten, and a cordless drill "So you want to see the gold, do you? I think this is where I saw the leprechaun hide it" I'm sure most people would try to leave that situation, as soon as possible.
This is either an insurance scam or something else crazy. The police were in uniform, takes effort. They knew he had gold. Tipped off. No safe ! Takes a while to move that many bars. 15 mins at least.
13 x 2.2 lbs = 28.6 lbs.
That's less than half of what a small bag of quikrete weighs.
Shouldn't take 15 minutes to move that unless you're Stephen Hawking.
The French are so low budget. Here in Amerika, we use "real" cops to rob people of their cash.
;-D
This blog is a great overview of the debt based monetary system ponzi.
It starts off a bit slow with the goldsmith bankers but lays some good ground work that is used later in the first post. The bitcoin stuff gets a bit out there but still interesting. I hope the blogger continues to post
http://debtcrash.blogspot.com/
Your odds of being robbed will go up with physical gold. They are guaranteed with paper gold...
how could a guy smart enough to own gold, be so stupid to fall for this.....fishy story to say the least....
This is why I have thought old Kha diffy might have been too paranoid and clever to store all his gold in one place. Do we know they got all of it?
there is almost no way, unless some was suffering from senility or alzherimers that an adult male competent enough to possess that much gold, would simply let strangers into his home to inspect it without even noticing they stole the gold and putting up a fight.
something is indeed fishy with this story. such as the possibility this man stole his own gold for tax purposes!
Maybe he gave them the gold-painted pig-iron copies. . .
That's nothing!
In this county, the real police can take your gold, legally.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/10/363102433/police-can-seiz...