The latest revelation to arise from the investigators auditing the Perth Mint accuses the mint of diluting the quality of more than 100 tons of gold bullion dating back to 2018 that had been sold to China.
Several scandals have emerged as reports from the investigators are leaked to various media organizations in Australia.
Investigators have previous attempted to link the closure of Puerto Rico based Euro Pacific Bank with an ongoing money laundering investigation at the Perth Mint’s gold certificates program.
Founder of Euro Pacific Bank, Peter Schiff, fervently denies all of the allegations and claims that the news agency is reporting on false and outdated information.
In July last year, Euro Pacific was shut down by authorities in Puerto Rico for having inadequate capital levels and compliance controls.
The shutdown followed an investigation by HRMC, the Revenue and Customs department for the UK government.
Following the investigation, authorities in the UK sent “nudge” letters to Euro Pacific Bank’s customers suspected of wrong doing asking them to come forward. Some reports suggest that threats of “predawn raids” by armed police were included in letters
Up until recently there had been no arrests linked to the investigation. In February, reports began emerging online that police in the UK raided several homes and businesses and arrested two men in the Liverpool area tied to the investigation. The names of those arrested have not yet been made public.
In another recent news report, a financial crime specialist from Australia suggest that a former Hell’s Angel member who paid cash for a 1 kg gold bar should have been identified as a “high risk.”
Even though the buyer has previous criminal convictions for drug trafficking and other crimes, at no time has he been under scrutiny for money laundering or acquiring the cash from illegal activities.
The biggest complaint from the expert quoted in the news is that “Mr Brajkovich says the Perth Mint only asked him for his driver’s licence.”
According to a video posted to YouTube by Bullion Now, a valid driver’s license is the only requirement for a cash purchase is valid identification.
Perth Mint “Standard Delivery” Bars Fail Shanghai Gold Exchange Specification
The Shanghai Gold Exchange initially uncovered purity discrepancies in 2021. The SGE alleged that two bars contained higher amounts of silver than their specifications allow which triggered an internal investigation by the Mint.
According to the SGE specification, Good Delivery bars labeled as 99.99% pure gold must adhere to strict standards regarding the chemical composition of the remaining 0.01%.
A bar designated as Grade I must have no more than 0.005% Silver (Au) and 0.002% Copper (Cu) with even more minute traces of iron, lead, bismuth and antimony.
Assay tests performed during the investigation found one of the bars contained higher trace amounts of silver than is acceptable for the Exchange.
The reports of the investigation state that the purity of the gold bar was still 99.99%, although the silver content was slightly higher than the specification.
Considering that the gold purity was tested as .9999 pure, at issue is the chemical composition of the 0.01%. If the silver content was higher than 0.005%, then it should follow the logic there were smaller amounts of copper and other trace elements.
The Perth Mint is the largest refiner of newly minted gold in the world. While Good Delivery bars are first sent to commodities exchanges, the 1 kg gold bars are also a frequent purchase for high-net worth investors. The Mint also manufacturers a variety of .9999 fine gold coins such as the 1 oz gold kangaroo.