Gold trader and author of the book “Chaos without Gold” Bart Brands is very critical of this message. “This criticism is aimed primarily at the director of the NSOC, Joost van Slobbe, who says he strongly believes that large quantities of gold are being used to launder criminal money, but he has no evidence for this.” Brands doesn’t understand how an investigation can be based on any evidence. But then aim the arrows at the gold.
Precautionary measures
Most gold dealers in the Netherlands will only accept gold if someone, perhaps a criminal, offers it. They must also prove where the obtained gold comes from. Many players therefore exclude crime as much as possible. “If you look at what is most commonly used for illegal transactions, i.e. the euro and the dollar. So aim your arrows at that,” Brands says.