"“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” "


Chinese premier Wen Jiabao 12th March 2009


""We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd like to do our best to preserve that system."


Timothy Geithner US Secretary of the Treasury, previously President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.1/3/2009

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

There's Gold in them flowerpots....

This is Licio Gelli pictured (BBC) on the terrace of his villa. In 1981 Police confiscated 150 gold bars worth $1.7 million hidden in the flower pots at the Tuscan villa of Licio Gelli, Italy's No.1 white-collar fugitive. Officials said gold weighing 630 pounds had been found in the pots lining several terraces of Gelli's mansion in the town of Arezzo,Tuscany Police said. Gelli , head of Masonic Lodge P2 was involved in the Gladio bombings, is/was a friend of Silvio Berlusconi and many, many other equally seedy Political figures in post war Italy.

Recently (ie in the last month) some of the gold bars , allegedly dating from the Weimer Republic and connected with the ODESSA organisation was (I have been told) auctioned off by the State / Police or an individual - the funds were to go to the survivors of the Bolgona Railway Station bombing.

I cannot find details of the Auction, date, site, can anybody out there help ?

Gelli is currently serving a 12 year sentence handed down in 1998.

2 comments:

Nur-al-Cubicle said...

Sorry...the auction doesn't appear to have been for charity.
http://it.news.yahoo.com/050920/58/3ec1v.html

Here's my translation for you:)

ROMA (Reuters) - A small portion of Licio Gelli's gold was auctioned off today to satify creditors' demands. Gelli's creditors are now asking to directly divide 180 gold bars confiscated in the 1980s.

In the presence of Judge Tommaso Sciascia of Rome, Lots 16, 21 and 26, three 1-Kg. bars bearing a seal of the ex-Soviet Union were auctioned off.

Two Rome lawyers took possession of a portion of "Gelli's tresure", 179 gold bars in total. The going price was 13,300 euros each which the lawyers had offered by sealed bid before 21 September.

The gold, 165 kilos in all - was found in the flower pots of Villa Wanda, the Arezzo resident of the head of the P2 lodge.

A source says it is likely that there will be no further auctions. A meeting is scheduled for 28 October at the Bankruptcy Court of the Rome Civil Tribunal where a request from lawyers representing the creditors will be heard. The creditors wish to divide the 180 remaing bars among themselves.

Nur-al-Cubicle said...

Wow, some Italian site say the gold was CIA with a faux CCCP stamp.

(C) Very Seriously Disorganised Criminals 2002/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 - copy anything you wish