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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Fifty Kilos of|Gold Bars Disappear

MANHATTAN (CN) - Emirates, a global airline based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, lost or stole 50 kilograms of gold bars worth $2.4 million, Crown Financial Solutions claims in court.

Crown sued Emirates on Friday, in Federal Court.

Crown claims it arranged to have 50 kilograms of gold bars flown from Ghana to the United States in January 2011. At $1,354.50 per ounce, the gold was worth $2,406,568.65, Crown says in the complaint.

Emirates operates "the world's largest fleet of Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft," and reported gross revenue of $3.1 billion from cargo transport in 2013, Crown claims.

After going through Ghanian Customs, Crown says, it placed its own lock on the case containing the gold, "to ensure it would not be tampered with on its way to the airport."

At Kotoka International Airport, in Accra, Ghana, the lock was removed, the gold was inspected again, then Crown put a new lock on it, and Emirates took possession of it, Crown says. An Emirate employee then gave Crown an air waybill, to track it.

Crown says the plane took off on Jan. 20, 2011, and on Jan. 21 it learned that the gold was in Dubai.

"Crown was alarmed at that time because the gold shipment was not scheduled to be held at the Emirates facility in Dubai. Even more alarming was the fact that the shipment did not have a confirmed booking for a flight to the United States," Crown says.

After a few nervous days, in which Emirates repeatedly assured it that it still had the gold, on Jan. 25 an Emirates employee told Crown that the air waybill number had been changed. "Crown was then left with no way to track its gold shipment," the complaint states.

The gold disappeared, Crown says.

It seeks punitive damages for breach of contract, fraud, conversion, unjust enrichment and conspiracy. It is represented by Gregory Tomczak with Ambrosio & Tomczak, of Montclair, N.J.

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