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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Square_Dealings who wrote (79132)11/5/2001 5:09:10 PM
From: long-gone  Respond to of 116753
 
Or were they trying to steal it so they could fill orders with what was stolen & have insurance pay off so they can fill more orders with cash?



To: Square_Dealings who wrote (79132)11/6/2001 5:19:24 AM
From: Alex  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 116753
 
Gold case faces tough questions
By Ted Griffith, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 6:45 PM ET Nov. 5, 2001


BOSTON (CBS.MW) -- A lawyer alleging a conspiracy by the federal government and investment banks to artificially depress the price of gold faced skeptical questioning Monday from a federal court judge in Boston.



Judge Reginald Lindsay repeatedly asked what evidence there was to support the allegations of price fixing in the gold market. Lindsay also questioned whether high-ranking government officials named in the suit, including Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, could even be sued, given that federal officials have certain immunities from litigation.

During the hearing, Lindsay dismissed two of the counts that accused J.P. Morgan (JPM: news, chart, profile) of fraud. The judge said he would take the other numerous allegations "under advisement" and make a ruling at some later point.

Monday's hearing was on a motion filed by the investment banks and the federal government to dismiss the suit, which was brought late last year by Reginald Howe, a consultant to a group called the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee. Howe, a Massachusetts attorney who represented himself, claims that the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements and investment firms conspired to drive down the price of gold. He claims the conspirators want to depress the price of gold because, among other things, higher gold prices would signal a warning of future inflation and call attention to U.S. trade deficits.

In addition to Greenspan and Morgan, the defendants include U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill as well as the Bank for International Settlements, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.

Judge Lindsay questioned Howe on what specific evidence he had to back up his claims.

"You're supposed to have a basis for your complaint that it is more than 'it appears'," Lindsay told Howe. "A complaint can't go forward on the basis of 'must have been.'"

Howe alleges that "waves" of unusual selling in the gold market in recent years support his contention that a far-reaching price-fixing scheme exists.

After the hearing, Howe declined to predict whether the judge would allow the case to proceed.

"There's no way to know, we'll get the judge's ruling in due course," Howe said.

Lindsay set no date for when he will make his ruling on the motion to dismiss.

Ted Griffith is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com