Gold Fever: Bild Issues 'Semi-Fake News' on Return of Precious Ingots to Germany
Berlin-Germany (Aug 25) The newspaper Bild has deliberately misled the public by publishing fake news about the early return of Germany's gold reserves, finance expert Peter Boehringer told Sputnik.
Boehringer, who is also a Germany gold repatriation activist, referred to Bild's article titled "The gold is finally in Germany. Bundesbank brings German gold reserves from abroad three years earlier than planned."
He said that "this is semi-fake news" as only fifty percent of Germany's gold reserves were returned. Given the sluggish schedule Bundesbank has set itself, this is hard to label a success, according to him.
"Well, fifty percent of the gold had been brought back. This, in principle, is good. However, the newspaper's report is only half true because Bild said that Germany is bringing back all its gold reserves. But it hasn’t managed to do this, it’s only returned half," Boehringer told Sputnik Germany.
Where German Gold Is Stored and How to Bring It Back to the Country
He also drew attention to Bild's claim that this has occurred "three years earlier than planned", recalling that Bundesbank announced in 2013 that all the country’s gold ingots will be returned to Germany in their entirety by 2020.
"An attempt to transfer several tons of gold from point 'A' to point 'B' within a seven-year period cannot be called an art. A private enterprise could resolve this task in a few days, weeks or months. It is only natural to implement the mission three years earlier than planned given a seven-year schedule," Boehringer added.
He also drew attention to the activity of his movement which he said added significantly to the German gold being returned to his country.
"Until 2012, no one in Germany knew where the German gold was being stored. This topic was a complete state secret, and only our movement ["Bring Our Gold Back to Our Homeland!"] managed to make this information public," he said.
"We have made significant progress in this matter, but the Bundesbank is cautious. However, we haven’t stopped there. Only with the help of public pressure will we be able to return the rest [of German gold reserves]," Boehringer pointed out.
He called for a meticulous check of the returned gold bullion to verify its authenticity.
"There was no serious audit in Frankfurt. The Bundesbank failed to provide any evidence pertaining to the return of the gold ingots. Nothing was checked by an external certified auditor and nothing was documented," according to him.
The German central bank, the Bundesbank, has brought back the gold reserves it stored in vaults located in Paris ahead of schedule, according to a statement published on Wednesday.
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