Cash for gold seller calls for greater regulation of the industry
Bermuda Gold Exchange manager says companies taking ‘a major hit’ due to stolen goldBy Ceola WilsonCash-for-gold businesses are to come under increased scrutiny as police try and clamp down on thieves.Stricter regulation of the industry is now under consideration.Proposed is a three-day waiting period before sellers are paid for their items, regular police updates on stolen jewellery and setting standards for the gold-buying process before money is paid out.Bermuda Gold Exchange manager James Gilbert said he met with police last week in an effort to reduce the number of stolen items that end up on his counter.The company has lost $15,000 in the past six months and $30,000 the year before that because gold it was sold was confiscated by police and/or returned to its rightful owners.Said Mr Gilbert: “A lot of people are getting more brazen in doing break-ins.“The price of an ounce of pure gold is just over $1,600 cash for the precious metal, which makes it a key motivating factor.”Many people end up in Magistrates’ Court for stealing or receiving stolen jewellery they’ve exchanged for cash at his store, he said. (See sidebar).The company is now working closely with the Bermuda Police Service to track offenders down.A Police spokesman said: “The BPS is working closely with all bullion exchange providers to ensure those establishments are fully compliant with the law and conducting business in a manner that does not enable or reward criminal activity on the Island.”Asked whether to respond to criticism that cash-for-gold businesses perpetuate crime Mr Gilbert said: “We work closely with the police and turn over stolen gold at our loss.“I’ve actually taken gold from people and told them it was stolen and we didn’t pay out any cash for it.”There have been cases where the company has purchased gold only to have the real owner come in looking for it minutes later, he said.One such instance put the company out by $1,350.Said Mr Gilbert: “We’ve tried to bite the bullet and still provide a legitimate service, but we’re taking a major hit due to stolen gold.“We’ve even had arrests made right outside our door and we photograph everything that comes through our door.”The company has maintained a database for two years and keeps a stop list of the names and photos of every client who has brought stolen gold in.Because of that offenders have conned unsuspecting individuals into exchanging jewellery for them.The only way to get a handle on the relatively new trade is to regulate the gold exchange business, the businessman believes.Said Mr Gilbert: “I’ve been calling for regulations to be put into effect ever since this company’s inception where we would hold the items for three days before paying out any money for it.“Without regulations, and with a waiting list here, desperate people will go to the other cash-for-gold business. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.“We were the first to actually open in Bermuda and no one took the cash-for-gold business seriously. They all thought it was just a quick moneymaking scheme.“Without proper security checks and regulations you will never get to the bottom of it, I have always been in favour of regulations from day one.”His hopes is that his talks with police extend to Government so the industry is regulated, Mr Gilbert added.“If the Minister of Public Safety Michael Dunkley or Attorney General Mark Pettingill would like to meet with me to talk regulations through legislation, I’m all for it.“I’m even willing to advise them on how to improve the system tremendously because I really want to prevent a lot of this stuff from happening.“I’m stressed right now, because I have shareholders who look to me to run this business and we’re already in for $15,000 in stolen jewellery.“We’re out of pocket for cash and basically out of luck when it comes to getting any funds paid out back.’He said he was “seriously contemplating” quitting the business as a result.
Several people have appeared in Magistrates’ Court charged with stealing jewellery in recent weeks.
Four men were accused of stealing an 18 carat gold ring encrusted with diamonds and sapphires worth $4,000.
Another man was charged with stealing an antique gold pocket watch worth $10,000.
The elderly owner said the watch was given to him by his grandfather. He cried when he discovered the family heirloom was turned in for cash, completely mangled.
Tanesha Gilbert of Bermuda Gold Exchange said the man who turned in the antique watch for cash returned to make a sale the following day.
“We had to pry the mangled pieces open with pliers to see the engravings so the owner could identify it,” she said.
“The poor man who owned it just broke down and cried because it’s irreplaceable. He said it was a gift, a family heirloom that he could never replace.”
She recalled another case of a drug user who exchanged gold that belonged to his mother and grandmother.
“After he died, his mother came in and asked me to pull up the pictures of everything he brought in to exchange for cash.
“Honestly and truthfully from looking at him I would have never thought in a lifetime that he was on drugs,” said Ms Gilbert. “He was a heroin addict. We didn’t have her jewellery; it was all gone.”
Once gold is turned in it’s gone within two or three days unless it’s claimed, she said.
“Now they bring it in all broken up into small pieces to try to make it unrecognisable,” she said.
“The police are in here at least three times a week; we have a steady flow of people who come in to see if their stolen jewellery is in our store.”
Ms Gilbert showed
The Royal Gazette a stack of paperwork listing stolen items received within the past four weeks. About 40 names are on it people the store now knows not to accept items from.A man was charged in Magistrates’ Court this week with stealing $2,634 worth of gold from a home in Warwick and $4,262 from a home on Gibbs Hill in Southampton.Bermuda Gold Exchange operator James Gilbert said the company is paying a heavy price despite its due diligence.“My business partners are looking at me when the cash is short and I’ve got people on the streets who say Bermuda Gold Exchange is ‘the snitch company’.“The bottom line is we get no commission on gold that is stolen after we’ve paid and it’s affecting our bottom line.”He continued: “The only way I see some leeway is if we regulate the business and enforce a two or three-day waiting period before cash is paid out. But without regulations if we make people wait, they will just go to the other company for an instant cash pay out.”
