“Sultan of Coins” executed for hoarding 2 tons of gold

[Ipv6Ready]

Iran has executed a man for hoarding 2 tons of gold.

Question is where does all these undocumented gold come from and how much is gold is out there above ground.

This is a guy who got caught, I doubt he is the only one nor the largest hoarder, how much gold would the largest protected players have and countless smaller gold hoarders in Iran.

Consider in 98 during Asian Financial Crisis South Koreans donated 226 tons of gold to pay down IMF debt. In 98 South Korean average wage was less than $22k usd

 

[pmbug]

According to a BBC report I saw, he was involved in some sort of currency trading network. The report didn't elaborate, but I got the impression he was running some sort of black market money exchange. Probably price gouging the desperate to boot.

 

[Ipv6Ready]

I don’t doubt he was doing something dodgy, But the rate he accumulated 2 tons of gold in 10 months, sure it’s rare but much more gold around than offical figures.

Even if he is the biggest, how much gold did the 2nd largest dealer have.

Could 100 illegal dealers just in poor Iran have 100 tons of gold?

 

[SlyGuy]

"Official figures" all depend on what you go by. People have been hoarding gold for thousands of years, so you will never find a truly accurate figure. It's not as if gold were a company that publishes how many shares it has outstanding, lol.

There are estimated to be over 170,000 metric tons of gold above ground (same with silver). Just remember approximately 1oz per person on Earth. The gold estimate is likely pretty accurate since nearly all that's been mined is still in jewelry or bars or etc, but the silver estimate is more questionable since much more has been mined yet much of that supply has then been destroyed and consumed industrially.

With approx 170,000 tons / 6,000,000,000 oz of gold above ground, it wouldn't be too hard for an individual dealer/group to get 1 or 2 tons of the gold. That is only roughly $87.5million USD of gold (and I'm sure you pay less than spot when buying that much). Many people or groups have that kind of money... no matter what country it is. The longer the country has been around, the bigger the rich/poor gaps typically will be.

 

[sgbuyer]

If you see something like this, you know that Iran is into deep shit. Now with falling oil prices, it will get even harder.

Odd to see people in Iran risking their lives to buy gold while gold dealers and refiners are going bust everywhere else due to lack of business.

 

[alor]

the US power is in-decline
last time Iraq could be used to hit Iran
now EU can not even support US on dealing with Iran oil
Russian sanctions, made her the great wheat producer, US soy beans have to be stored away...the same way China stock pile their rice stocks
in support of many sanctions will only guarantee markets being closed on your on supportive actions, this is putting the farmers votes away

https://www.chinanews.net/news/258307784/iran-hangs-sultans-of-coins-second-currency-trader

They were sentenced to death in September after being convicted of 'disrupting the economy' through the creation of a network trading in illegal currency and gold coins. Their convictions were upheld by the Supreme Court in October.

looks like USD is exchange with gold ???
is USD illegal in Iran?

https://www.rt.com/business/420197-iran-farewell-us-dollar/ Published time: 1 Mar, 2018 14:45

Tehran has announced that purchase orders by merchants that are based on US currency would no longer be allowed to go through import procedures.
According to local media, the policy is in line with an official request by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and is specifically meant to address fluctuations in market rates of the US dollar.

 

[pmbug]

... the guy was prosecuted for committing fiancial/economic crimes against the law of the country he lives in. ...

Yeah, it sounds like he was indeed running a black market currency exchange. These things happen in every country that faces a hyperinflation or a currency crisis.