The Utah Department of Commerce said in a Friday news release that Rust had fraudulently obtained more than $170 million from people in Utah and 16 other states in a scheme involving silver.

The complaint alleges that for more than 10 years, Rust “tricked” investors who believed they were pooling their money so Rust and his company would sell silver held in a pool as market prices rose, and buy silver for the pool when prices fell. Investors were told this would lead to “extraordinarily high profits.”

Congressmen Alex Mooney (R-WV) criticized the United States Mint for its “disappointing and concerning” lack of awareness or action on the growing problem of high-quality counterfeits of U.S. precious-metals coins entering the country from China and elsewhere.

“The U.S. Mint’s response dated November 17, 2017, seemed to suggest a belief that the problem was not significant,” wrote Mooney in his March 6 letter. “However, the U.S. Secret Service has since briefed my office about the extent of this activity and its frustration with a lack of supportive actions by other agencies, including the U.S. Mint.”

The world's oldest gold trader is for sale after a massive money laundering scandal may have terminally crippled one of the most iconic names in the business.

Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia is exploring options for its gold business ScotiaMocatta, the Financial Times reported, which include a possible sale of Canada's most popular precious metals trader. Scotiabank made a decision to sell ScotiaMocatta following a massive money laundering scandal centered on a U.S. refinery that involved smuggled gold from South America. The ScotiaMocatta business, a mainstay in PM trading, is one of London’s main gold trading banks and is being sold by JPMorgan.

Customs officials are investigating what is apparently a case of gold smuggling, one that speaks to the growing level of sophistication among smugglers exploiting budget carriers' tendency to use the same aircraft for both domestic and international flights.

Some media outlets have also pointed the finger at China's wealthy. The argument goes that the rich, having lost confidence in the Chinese yuan and with investment in other assets becoming difficult, are turning to gold smuggling to move their wealth out of the country. They supposedly hire mules to carry the gold from China, as well as places like South Korea and Taiwan, into Japan, where the consumption tax increase has made it easy for them to pay off the carriers and bribe staff at Asian airports.

Hundreds of special German police officers executed raids across several buildings across southern Berlin early Wednesday, nabbing four suspects in the hunt for a 220-pound gold coin valued at about $3.9 million. It was stolen from Berlin's Bode Museum in March, where it had been since 2010.

Three men who stumbled across more than a kilogram of gold during a barbecue at a West Australian mine site, stole it, then bragged about it on Facebook have been hit with heavy fines.

Effective March 31, 2017, 6:00p.m. Central Time (CT), Commodity Exchange, Inc. (“COMEX”or “Exchange”) will suspend registration (warranting) of the Elemetal Refining, LLC (ELEM) gold and silver brands (Brand Mark “ELEMETAL REFINING AND JACKSON IN A CIRCLE WITH A STYLIZED E AND M IN AN INNER CIRCLE”) for delivery against the Exchange’s Gold and Silver futures contracts.

As such, any unwarranted ELEM gold (100-troy ounce bars and kilo bars) and silver at Exchange-approved depositories will no longer be deemed, or reported as, eligible for registration.

German press has reported that thieves broke into Berlin's Bode Museum and made off with a massive 100-kilogram (221-pound) gold coin worth millions.

According to German media, the stolen coin is the "Big Maple Leaf", a commemorative piece issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007. The three-centimeter (1.18-inch) thick coin, with a diameter of 53 centimeters (20.9 inches), has a face value of $1 million. By weight alone, however, it would be worth almost $4.5 million at market prices.

A pair of 17-year-old boys carried out a scheme using fake gold bars to scam people out of more than $50,000, according to police.

Investigators said the Bend teens bought artificial gold bars online that looked like the real deal. They then sold the bars as authentic to people in central Oregon, according to police.

Investigators described the suspects as "sophisticated" in using multiple ways to conceal their identities and scheme.

The teens identified people interested in buying gold through Craigslist and then set up meetings to make the transactions.