Fake-branded bars slip dirty gold into world markets

[Strongkored]

the headline and "forgery" lede are a bit misleading, as the fraudulent gold bars bleeding into the market are in fact real gold. the purpose of counterfeiting in this case is to launder money by procuring and selling bars that look like they were produced at the world's major legitimate refineries.

the counterfeits are good enough that they've been found in the vaults of jpmorgan chase. i guess gold is pretty good for moving/laundering money after all!

-snip-

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gold-swiss-fakes-exclusive/exclusive-fake-branded-bars-slip-dirty-gold-into-world-markets-idUSKCN1VI0DD

The so-called fake gold is still real gold, only a fake brand, because if the gold is really fake, then something that is impossible can be found in JPMorgan Chase & Co branskas and it is ironic that JPMorgan Chase & Co. can be deceived like this.

From this news I can conclude that everything that can be used as a place for money laundering, so far we have heard that the blockchain is an alternative to money laundering, but it turns out that even certified gold can be done by falsifying documents or logos / brands.

[bryant.coleman]

I am still OK with this, as the only ones who are getting harmed are the major corporations and banks who charge exorbitant fees for their branded bullion bars and coins. The buyer is getting gold bars of a very high purity, supposedly at cheaper rates. He may face some issues while converting the bullion bars to cash, but it is still going to be profitable for him. Another positive is that it may help to remove the monopoly in the global gold market currently being held by major miners and refiners from South Africa, Russia.etc and make the playing field a bit more equal. The buyers will be having more options to choose from and increased supply means that in general the prices will come down.

[coolcoinz]

I am still OK with this, as the only ones who are getting harmed are the major corporations and banks who charge exorbitant fees for their branded bullion bars and coins. The buyer is getting gold bars of a very high purity, supposedly at cheaper rates. He may face some issues while converting the bullion bars to cash, but it is still going to be profitable for him. Another positive is that it may help to remove the monopoly in the global gold market currently being held by major miners and refiners from South Africa, Russia.etc and make the playing field a bit more equal. The buyers will be having more options to choose from and increased supply means that in general the prices will come down.

You can never know what source, or rather area of business the dirty money comes from. They could come from theft. Would you like to buy cheap gold of high purity knowing that it was stolen and then melted to hide its origin? The problem with selling will also be there because if they are found to be fake you will need to pay someone to check if there isn't a core made of another metal and so on.

[7788bitcoin]

The so-called fake gold is still real gold, only a fake brand, because if the gold is really fake, then something that is impossible can be found in JPMorgan Chase & Co branskas and it is ironic that JPMorgan Chase & Co. can be deceived like this.

Since gold is a natural resource there are mines which are done illegally and to be considered as a bullion you need to have certain standards and a few authorized mints will produce those and we are living in a world where everything is duplicated and this is not a shocking news altogether.

From this news I can conclude that everything that can be used as a place for money laundering, so far we have heard that the blockchain is an alternative to money laundering, but it turns out that even certified gold can be done by falsifying documents or logos / brands.

Criminals will find a way to do illegal activities to launder money and blockchain can be used to put an end to those or at least reduce these illegal practices and for that we need more research and studies to come up with a near perfect solution. Logos and documents can be duplicated but you cannot enter a duplicate entry into a blockchain .

[exstasie]

I am still OK with this, as the only ones who are getting harmed are the major corporations and banks who charge exorbitant fees for their branded bullion bars and coins. The buyer is getting gold bars of a very high purity, supposedly at cheaper rates. He may face some issues while converting the bullion bars to cash, but it is still going to be profitable for him. Another positive is that it may help to remove the monopoly in the global gold market currently being held by major miners and refiners from South Africa, Russia.etc and make the playing field a bit more equal. The buyers will be having more options to choose from and increased supply means that in general the prices will come down.

You can never know what source, or rather area of business the dirty money comes from. They could come from theft. Would you like to buy cheap gold of high purity knowing that it was stolen and then melted to hide its origin?

Official stamps might make you feel warm and cozy inside, but this is a longstanding practice. For example, the US government is long known to have melted down personal effects from the German occupation into official US treasury gold bars. This is basically how all conflict gold stolen in wars is treated. Money is treated as money, in other words.

[SquallLeonhart]

I meant in the way that people kept accusing Bitcoin as easy to counterfeit or launder. We've always made the argument that the same can be said for fiat, this one shows that even gold experts can be fooled.

With the fingerprinting, I wonder if pawnshops are equipped to detect doped gold. If I bought cheap gold bars and found out it's not "real" simply because it's lacking some seals, I'd be worried how I'll dispose it to get my money back. If they are doped but can pass through pawnshops undetected I might try to have them crafted into jewelry.

I guess that they now see that there is no system that is free of being used for fraudulent acts, security experts' would have given their strength by not even allowing the bar to enter into world market but even with the securities that they out in place, it still does happen even with gold market.

I think it is even easier that way because gold too does not have limited supply like fiat also, and it could get into the hands of too many people at a particular time, but cryptocurrency have limited supply and it would t always have the supply till future, which means it can be controlled in future, but gold cannot be controlled and that is why its supply cannot even be accounted for, why bitcoin supply can really be accounted for. Well, the bar sleeping into the market is the responsibility of the government anyway.

[coolcoinz]

I am still OK with this, as the only ones who are getting harmed are the major corporations and banks who charge exorbitant fees for their branded bullion bars and coins. The buyer is getting gold bars of a very high purity, supposedly at cheaper rates. He may face some issues while converting the bullion bars to cash, but it is still going to be profitable for him. Another positive is that it may help to remove the monopoly in the global gold market currently being held by major miners and refiners from South Africa, Russia.etc and make the playing field a bit more equal. The buyers will be having more options to choose from and increased supply means that in general the prices will come down.

You can never know what source, or rather area of business the dirty money comes from. They could come from theft. Would you like to buy cheap gold of high purity knowing that it was stolen and then melted to hide its origin?

Official stamps might make you feel warm and cozy inside, but this is a longstanding practice. For example, the US government is long known to have melted down personal effects from the German occupation into official US treasury gold bars. This is basically how all conflict gold stolen in wars is treated. Money is treated as money, in other words.

True, but whether taking something from a country that lost the war is theft is a matter of opinion. Japan was being occupied after the war and the occupants did not think of themselves this way. In their minds they were peacekeepers. How much money, gold, oil was taken from Iraq? At the same time those little bank thefts, account hacks and other white collar crimes are always painted like the worst theft that needs to be weeded out as it destabilizes the system. The world is strange indeed.