Phillip and Gay Courter found themselves in the middle of a global scandal after a French couple asked them to hold onto a briefcase of gold bars which they later tried to flog on eBay.
An American couple found themselves in hot water with French authorities after an episode of Antiques Roadshow led to their arrest for trafficking a “national treasure belonging to France”.
Phillip and Gay Courter were embroiled in the scandal after becoming close friends with a French couple, Gerard and Annette Petsy.
The Petsys had asked the Courters to safeguard a briefcase filled with gold bars while they sought an American buyer. The Courters kept the bars for 15 years before attempting to sell them on eBay, the Express reports.
Despite consulting with customs and filing the bars with the IRS after storing them in a safety deposit box, they found themselves in legal trouble.
After being reassured from their lawyers that they were not breaking any laws, the couple were arrested in England. With no UK currency to pay bail, they were incarcerated.
Phillip Courter recounted the bewildering series of events to the New Yorker, explaining how they came into possession of the valuable ingots. He described how Gerard personally delivered twenty gold bars to them in Florida.
The father-of-three remembered: “He walks in and pops open this briefcase full of gold, and we’re like, ‘Oh my God’. Gerard was a crazy guy with so many irons in the fire”.
When Phillip showed his children the gold bars, they excitedly ran off to play with them “like Legos”. He laughed as he recalled: “Honestly, we thought it was cool. We did ask a few questions.”
The story unfolded when a dubious artefact was acquired by the British Museum, leading its former owners to believe in its authenticity. “Our thinking was, ‘Jeez, the British Museum’s buying it, so it must be legit.”
Unbeknownst to them, the gold bars were once owned by Prince de Conty and had mysteriously disappeared after his ship sank off the coast of Brittany.
French archaeologist Michel L’Hour then uncovered an online listing for gold bars, which noted: “Nearly identical to the bars from the wrecks of the French East India Company vessel Prince de Conty, and to the Dutch East-Indiaman Geldermalsen.”
The listing intriguingly linked to an Antiques Roadshow episode, where Anette Petsy showcased the same bars on the BBC programme, ultimately leading L’Hour and the French authorities straight to the Courters.
While detained, the Courters received news that a French judge had issued arrest warrants against them for trafficking what was considered “national treasure belonging to France.”
After their release on bail from UK detention, the Courters were confined within Britain and stayed with friends as they faced mounting legal bills.
Their daughter lamented to The New Yorker: “They were hollow shells of the people I knew.”
It wasn’t until they engaged a French legal team that the Courters discovered their plight could have been sidestepped if their US lawyers had been versed in specific French legal doctrines.
Their French legal team swiftly set up an immediate deposition via Zoom, and the duo were officially charged with hiding stolen goods and laundering money. The judge lifted the extradition request and allowed them to access their passports, enabling a trip back home.
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A court date has been scheduled for later in the year. Their solicitor Gregory Levy shared with The New Yorker: “We will try to demonstrate that there was no criminal intention. They sold on eBay. When you want to traffic something, you don’t go on eBay, right?”
Reflecting on the events, Gay remarked: “Was our situation typical or unusual? How many people without our privileges or resources are being detained in foreign countries without charges?
“It is not an exaggeration to say that nothing in my life prepared me for this, and I am no longer the same person I was. The gold was a tiny fragment of our lives together – meaningless, until it wasn’t.”
