World Gold Council's Bullion Fund Double-Counts Gold Bars, GATA Says
MANCHESTER, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2004--More than 2 percent of the gold reported as the property of the World Gold Council's new exchange-traded bullion fund on the New York Stock Exchange (GLD) appears to have been double-counted on account of duplicate serial numbers on the fund's gold bars, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee said today.
The duplication was discovered by GATA consultant James Turk, editor of the Freemarket Gold & Money Report and founder of the GoldMoney gold depository and Internet-based gold payment system. Turk examined the bar list reported to investors by the fund.
In today's statement, GATA argued that the duplication of bar numbers deepens concerns about the adequacy of the bullion fund's custodial and auditing arrangements.
"For years the suppression of the gold price and the manipulation of the gold market have been facilitated by the mystery that has been deliberately woven around the leasing of gold and around gold custodianship generally," GATA said. "If the World Gold Council's bullion fund is not to be suspected as another part of that manipulation, the council must answer some questions urgently:
"-- Why does the bullion fund list ownership of duplicate gold bars?
"-- Why have all the custodians and potential custodians of the fund's gold not been identified?
"-- Why is the fund refusing to let its gold holdings be fully and publicly audited?
"-- Is any of the fund's gold being leased, made available for leasing, or encumbered in any way?
"-- Exactly what is the fund's relationship with the Bank of England, a major lessor of gold?"
Turk's report on the duplication of serial numbers in the bullion fund can be found on the Internet here: news.goldseek.com.
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