Legal Question in Securities Law in Illinois

Silver Laundering

I've been trying to track the reliability of a story I read from the 1930's involving silver laundering.

A man was at the New York Rock and Mineral Show, and was arrested by U.S. Treasury agents for selling silver specimens because, at the time, silver was a monetary metal. I'm told the charges against him were dropped on April 16, 1940 as he ''cannot be charged with the sale of monetary metal in the form of a specimen because it has been ruled that they are collectible, much like rare coins.''

I've heard that this issue spreads to Chicago also, where the mafia was engaging in similar practices of silver laundering.

Would you know where to find information regarding the New York case or the law it referred to?


Asked on 12/22/08, 3:49 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Adam S. Tracy Securities Compliance Group Ltd

Re: Silver Laundering

As it relates to law, silver (or any other metal for that matter), could be construed to be a "security" for legal purposes. Depending on how you are going about this (eg, the manner of sale), there may be securities laws implications. Not sure if this is where you were going with this. I am not familiar with the story; [email protected]

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Answered on 12/31/08, 8:58 am
Motty Stone Law Offices of Motty Stone

Re: Silver Laundering

I would start with the newspapers - see if there were any articles from around that time. Local libraries should be able to help you with that.

If you have a case number or some more information about names and dates, then you can try to see if the file is still archived at whatever courthouse was involved. If the charges were dropped then there is a good chance those records do not exist. Likewise, you can try contacting the relevant police departments and explain that you are researching an old case for an article (or something)... a friendly officer should know if files from the 40s still exist anywhere. Like I said though, the newspapers are your best bet.

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Answered on 12/24/08, 11:21 am


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