Couple in the US may be tried for missing gold bars from sunken 18th Century ship

A retired American couple may face prosecution in France for their alleged involvement in the sale of gold bars looted from a merchant vessel that sank off the coast of Brittany nearly 300 years ago. Prosecutors in France have announced their intentions to charge 80-year-old novelist Eleonor “Gay” Courter and her 82-year-old husband Philip for allegedly aiding in the sale of stolen gold ingots procured by a French diver over a span of 23 years.

After a thorough investigation, authorities found that the elderly couple possessed a minimum of 23 stolen gold bars and had sold 18 of them online, with the transactions facilitated through a California auction house and eBay, resulting in a collective profit of $192,000.

The stolen gold bars are believed to have originated from the wreck of the Prince de Conty, a vessel owned by the French East India Company that sank due to a storm. The shipwreck was discovered in 1974, and subsequent official salvaging efforts during the 1980s led to the recovery of Chinese porcelain, tea chests, and three gold bars before operations ceased in 1985.

In 2018, suspicions arose when five gold ingots surfaced at a US auction bearing striking similarities to those from the Prince de Conty. Subsequently, local authorities seized the gold and repatriated it to France in 2022. The Courters asserted that the gold they sold was given to them as a legal gift in the 1980s by their French acquaintances, Annette and the late Gérard Pesty, who claimed that the ingots were retrieved by Yves Gladu, a former underwater photographer turned treasure hunter and Annette’s brother-in-law.

In 2022, after being apprehended, Gladu admitted to taking 16 gold bars from the wreck during approximately 40 dives between 1976 and 1999 but refuted allegations of providing any to the Courters. During the same year, the Courters were detained in England following their identification through online listings and a 1999 Antiques Roadshow appearance by Annette Pesty exhibiting the gold bars. The couple was subsequently released on bail, elected against extradition, and returned to the US post a Zoom hearing before a French magistrate.

The Courters maintain their innocence, asserting that they were uninformed of any illicit activities and believed the gold was lawfully acquired within the confines of US regulations. Their French attorney, Grégory Lévy, informed AFP that the couple had no malicious intentions and did not personally benefit financially from the sales. Prosecutors have escalated the case to a criminal court, laying the groundwork for a groundbreaking trial that could test legal boundaries across various jurisdictions.