This is Jim Willie's explanation.

http://news.goldseek.com/GoldenJackass/1259100000.php

<snip>

He writes some of the most outrageous articles on the net and then he frequently turns out to be right.

In this case I think he fell prey to an urban legend. As best I can tell, the original story started in Ethiopia, with a real life gold fraud:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7294665.stm

Then mutated into the current version, which is discussed here:

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-03/how-make-convincing-fake-gold-bars

Scroll down to the very bottom of the comments section where "XaX" points out a number of flaws in the story which make it highly unlikely this has ever occurred, at least to good delivery bars in legal custody. Sounds like a good way to pay off terrorists though, or maybe Somali pirates...LOL!

ebear