A June 23 Bloomberg News story entitled "German Gold Stays in New York in Rebuff to Euro Doubters" made the seemingly straight-forward case that the German authorities had decided to reverse course on a plan announced in 2012 to bring home some 300 tonnes of German gold that had been on deposit at the New York Federal Reserve since the 1960s. According to the article, German representatives had gone to New York, saw their gold, were convinced that it was in good hands, and decided that the hassle of putting it on a plane and sending it back to Germany was simply unnecessary. The article quoted a spokesman for Chancellor Merkel who said "the Americans are taking good care of our gold" and even quoted Peter Boehringer, one of the leading private advocates of the repatriation movement, as saying their campaign to pressure German authorities "is on hold."

When the Germans originally asked for their gold back, the Federal Reserve had countered with a painfully slow eight-year delivery period. This struck many as strange given that the total request only represented 5% of the gold reportedly held at the Fed's New York vaults. The delay severely whipped up concerns that long-held theories about imaginary gold were actually true. The Bloomberg article appeared to dismiss all these concerns and bring the case to a close. Or did it? Almost immediately,people close to the matter cried foul.