Two Floridians, Phillip and Gay Courter , were arrested by the French authorities over trafficking a "national treasure belonging to France" after an episode of Antiques Roadshow.
The Courters, parents of three and grandparents of eight, got roped into the affair when a French couple they had become close friends with, Gérard and Annette Petsy, asked them to hold onto a briefcase of gold bars for them while he was in France as he was looking for an American buyer. They held onto them for 15 years before selling them on eBay.
Even though they consulted with customs, they filed the bars with the IRS after putting them in a safety deposit box and their lawyers had assured them they weren't doing anything wrong, the couple was arrested in England and since they didn't have the proper currency on them to pay bail, they were thrown into jail.
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories.
READ MORE: Antiques Roadshow guest can't believe the staggering five-figure value of his 'very old book'
READ MORE: Antiques Roadshow guest to pay for mom's retirement after staggering sculpture valuation
Gerard flew out to Florida to personally deliver twenty ingots of gold to the Courters. "He walks in and pops open this briefcase full of gold, and we’re, like, 'Oh, my God,'" Philip told The New Yorker.
"Gérard was a crazy guy with so many irons in the fire," Gay said. Gerard showed them to their kids and let them play with them. She said: "They were playing with them like Legos. Honestly, we thought it was cool.”
"We did ask a few questions," Phil said. "Our thinking was, Jeez, the British Museum’s buying it, so it must be legit."
It turns out the bars really belonged to Prince de Conty and went missing after his ship crashed in Brittany.
Then, archaeologist Michel L’Hour stumbled across a listing for the gold bars. The description read: "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 also included a link to an episode of Antiques Roadshow. A French woman, eventually revealed to be Anette Petsy, showcased the bars on the show. This bombshell discovery lead him and the French authorities to the Courters.
While in prison, the Courters learned that a French judge had issued warrants for their arrest over the trafficking of "national treasure belonging to France." Eventually, were released from the prisons in England on bail but couldn't leave so they stayed with acquintances in the country as they worked to fight the arrests. They depleted their funds on legal fees, having to borrow money from friends.
"They were hollow shells of the people I knew," their daughter told The New Yorker.
Once they were able to hire a French legal team, the Courters learned the arrests could've been avoided if their US lawyers had understood certain aspects of French law. Their French lawyers negotiated an immediate deposition over Zoom and they were formally charged with concealment of stolen goods and money laundering. The judge, however, removed the extradition and gave them access to their passports so they could return home.
A trial has been set for 2025.
"We will try to demonstrate that there was no criminal intention," their lawyer Grégory Lévy told The New Yorker. "They sold on eBay. When you want to traffic something, you don’t go on eBay, right?"
Reflecting on the ordeal, Gay said: "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," she added. "The gold was a tiny fragment of our lives together—meaningless, until it wasn’t."
Most Popular
Comments / 0