On Gold, Murder and Privacy In California

I have been following the story of the murder of Pamela Fayed, who with her husband, ran Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales and an associated Internet firm, e-Bullion.

She was seeking a divorce and had recently asked a friend about getting an armed bodyguard. This past Monday, she was attacked by a man with a knife and killed in the parking garage of a Los Angeles office complex where she had been visiting a lawyer. The murder does not appear to be random.

The husband, James Fayed, was arrested on Friday by the FBI on charges related to his gold trading business.

Rick Copelan, president of the Better Business Bureau for Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties, said e-Bullion has an "F" rating, primarily because of "16 unanswered complaints going back as far as 36 months.

According to LaTi, Mark Werksman, Fayed's attorney and a former federal prosecutor, said he was troubled by the timing of his client's arrest.

"They accelerated this as a result of Pam's death on Monday," he said. "I believe they are using this as a tactic to apply pressure at a time when he is most vulnerable because of this tragedy that he suffered."

One former client who's not complaining is Stephen Leeper, who said in an interview with LaTi that he invested $10,000 with e-Bullion and got a return of a little more than $30,000 in less than five months. With those kind of returns, it sounds like a possible Ponzi scheme. If you hold gold there, I would be at their door tomorrow morning, faster than you can say, "I have uninsured money on deposit with IndyMac".

So there's gold and murder involved, but the real story may be your privacy if you have a California driver's license. Check out The Los Angeles Times coverage of the story and notice the picture of Pamela Fayed, here. Does the pose look familiar? Does it look like a driver's license pose? It should. Now, check out the credit for the photo on the bottom right hand corner. It's DMV. A source has tipped us off that the California DMV has sold access to all it's driver's license photos to LaTi along with the right for LaTi to print those photos any time it chooses! Welcome to the world of Big Brother trying to make a little scratch.

As for Goldfinger and e-Bullion, there has to be some very worried gold buyers, who hold gold with these companies. It should be a lesson learned for the rest of us. Why put someone between you and your gold, if you are going to buy gold take possession and store it yourself.

UPDATE: Three million in gold bullion found at Fayed's house. Prosecutor charges Ponzi scheme. Car used in murder was rented using James Fayed credit card. Full details here.