The Assistant U.S. Attorney stated that Elemetal "willfully failed to develop, implement and maintain an [anti-money laundering program] reasonably designed to prevent Elemetal from being used to facilitate money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities.". The concern here is that the Bank of Nova Scotia has a lien on metal (a right to keep the metal until a debt is paid) that it consigned to Provident Metals and "certain of its affiliates" (Elemetal Vault is an affiliate of Provident Metals). It is unclear who would benefit from that money. My recommendation is that if you have any Elemetal/NTR/OPM bars, you test them using whatever tools you have easily at your disposal. UPDATE June 29, 2017 1:35PM EST: I have now heard a report from someone saying that they did receive the June 15, 2017 payment on time. You can either send an anonymous tip or E-mail. The letter specifies that they expect to pay Elemetal Refining, LLC customers within 6 months. They also clarified that their client's metal is not (and can not be) subject to any lien. Why OPM was leasing metal is beyond my expertise. If I ran Provident, I would immediately respond, either with an answer, or giving a high priority to getting a detailed response. So I'm stuck on that lead, even though logic suggests that if this were not true, Dillon Gage would immediately respond saying so (who turns down extra business?). Two companies that had reputations similar to Provident went belly-up after lying about stored metal. If this is all true, is the metal actually owned by the glass company? If Elemetal Vault's metal is subject to a lien (and there is evidence that suggests this could be the case), Elemetal Vault would be a complete lie, and it would to me seem like Provident would be selling a fraudulent product. Meanwhile, Elemetal executives in Dallas were stripping the Jackson refinery for parts, former employees say. 20% of the amount owed customers will be paid out today. [April 14, 2017 5:00PM EST Update: The Elemetal Vault metal is in a Brinks facility in a separate state, and not subject to any liens]. It certainly is a possibility, but not one that is publicly known, and I doubt that her statement really meant that LBMA knows Elemetal is under investigation. Apparently has only 1 part-time employee who is leaving. In the meantime, I now have the details behind the OPM 1oz gold bar serial numbering system. This adds fuel to the fire regarding whether a bank or other company may believe they have a lien against Elemetal Vault metal. Gold/silver shut down early April, 2017, insolvent, just handling base metals. April 5, 2017 11866 Trending Now. Previously, it was unknown if the company itself was under investigation. Of course, I am certain that Provident's President and CEO Joe Merrick is well aware of this sale. However, I have not seen anything (public or otherwise) stating that Elemetal (the company, as opposed to individual employees) is/was under investigation. They are based in the United States. Again, anyone with XRF or assay results of Elemetal, NTR, OPM or Provident bars, I would love to hear from you (you anonymous tips page or E-mail the address on the tips page). Measuring the weight/dimensions or an acid test would not be accurate enough. As far as I can tell, this is all news that did appeared in national media more than 3 months ago. The sample was then dissolved in acid, and run through an Agilent ICP-OES (a $100K instrument). UPDATE June 26, 2017 1:10PM EST: I have heard that Kitco is paying $1 below spot for NTR/Elemetal/OPM/Provident silver bars (versus $.25 under spot for others), and $20 below spot for NTR/Elemetal/OPM/Provident gold bars (versus $7.50 under spot for others). improve inventory management as well as fulfillment operations.". In the arrangement they had with Elemetal Refining, the glass company would use pure silver as part of the process to coat glass, and then send Elemetal the impure silver that resulted for refining. Another holding of the Elemetal conglomerate, according to the 10-K, was Elemetal Refining LLC, an Ohio-based refiner of so-called “good delivery” gold and silver that once was called OPM Metals. However, what is known is that Scotia Bank had a lien on metal consigned to OPM (the lien is in Provident's name, but refers to Provident's affiliates and the mailing address is OPM's). ... Palladium Refining Complete Process Part 2of2. "In late 2016, [Elemetal Online/Provident] found a new partner." I posted a comment the next day, asking if he could confirm that there were no liens on their stored metals program (Elemetal Vault). "Our boss is in England and won�t be back until it's too late! Presumably, the metal in the Elemetal Vault (which appears to be located in the Elemetal Refining, LLC facilities) is not covered by the bank's lien (if so, there would be disastrous consequences). But if Elemetal Vault is telling the truth, you have title to 1% of that bar. In that case, the title transfers to Elemetal (the question being when; Elemetal stated that they believe it is on delivery to Elemetal). Barrage was sentenced to nearly 7 years, and Granda was sentenced to 6 years in prison. They include a checksum, making it quite difficult to come up with valid serial numbers (without knowing the formula). I have just been told by Elemetal Vault that the metal purchased by Elemetal Vault customers is located in a Brinks vault in a different state. So for .999 or .9999 fine gold, it would be required to be .996 or .9969. Early in the saga, the Compliance Officer rejected an account expected to bring in $250M annually because of the involvement of someone known by the Compliance Officer to be a "gold money launderer". The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Jackson, OH. Despite Provident Precious Metals, LLC being listed as the debtor on the lien, the address is not that of Provident Metals: it is that of Elemetal Refining and OPM, where Elemetal Vault is located. You can either E-mail me or send any information anonymously, using the anonymous tips page. What is surprising is that it appears no notice was given to customers. Barrage agreed to pay back $850,000, and Granda agreed to pay back $466,000. If anyone has any details about bars they believe may be impure, the anonymous tips page can be used to get either E-mail me or send information anonymously. 17 Feb 2017 announcement that it is being acquired by DGSE. I have set up a simple page that lets you test to see if the serial number on an OPM, Elemetal, or NTR appears to be valid. Our expansive network of stores gives us the unique ability to serve you conveniently wherever you are. This is for falling afoul of our responsible gold guidelines due to their ongoing FBI investigation.". I then posted a second comment in response explaining the importance and asking for further clarification (and sent an E-mail to their media address). One customer reported receiving only a small fraction of what they were owed for the October payment. And Provident doesn't want to know the answer? This suggests an urgency behind this audit. Rather than file for bankruptcy (where nobody seems to win), they offered a payment plan of 5 20% installments. Previously, Provident Metals had pushed Elemetal Vault as their storage solution. The 3 employees then began opening accounts for the known gold money launderer using front companies. We deliver improved results – both in operations and in capital management, including feed optimisation and work-in-process inventory reduction – and we transfer the underpinning systems, processes and skills to your team. Platinum. Nothing! It outlined a 23-year-old from Chile who smuggled $80M of illegal Peruvian gold, and how the Miami branch of NTR Metals (Elemetal) bought $3B of mostly illegal gold in the past 4 years.