Update 3 - Chinese Firm Promotes & Sells Gold Plated Tungsten Online (Link)
Update 2 - Now It's Fake Tungsten-Filled Gold Coins (Link)
Update - Ten More Fake Gold Bars Found In NYC (NY Post)
In jewelry stores on 47th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the important trust between merchants has been violated. A 10-ounce gold bar costing nearly $18,000 turned out to be a counterfeit. The bar was filled with tungsten, which weighs nearly the same as gold but costs just over a dollar an ounce.
Ibrahim Fadl bought the bar from a merchant who has sold him real gold before. But he heard counterfeit gold bars were going around, so he drilled into several of his gold bars worth $100,000 and saw gray tungsten -- not gold.
What makes it so devious is a real gold bar is purchased with the serial numbers and papers, then it is hollowed out, the gold is sold, the tungsten is put in, then the bar is closed up. That is a sophisticated operation. MTB, the Swiss manufacturer of the gold bars, said customers should only buy from a reputable merchant. The problem, he admits, is Ibrahim Fadl is a very reputable merchant.
The Secret Service, which deals with counterfeits, said it is investigating.
Related story:
Video: Gold Bar Testing with Ultrasound
