The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A major gold/silver dealer yesterday urged the Government to crackdown on ‘Cash for Gold’ enterprises suspected of illegal activities, stating: “Go after those people and not the whole industry”.

David Lunn, proprietor of United Gold and Silver, was speaking in the wake of recent remarks by the minister of national security, Dr Bernard Nottage, who said the Government has drafted new legislation to ‘deal’ with ‘Cash for Gold’ businesses amid concern they are being used for money laundering.

However, Mr Lunn said that if the Government was privy to such information, it should move ahead and crack down on those operators suspected of such offenses.

“I’m perfectly happy to have him look at my bank statements every month,” he said of Dr Nottage. “I know one of these businesses that had their accounts terminated by a local bank, and when they do that there obviously is suspicion of money laundering.

“I don’t know how that would occur. He [Dr Nottage] must know how that can be done, and which companies do that. He could check my bank statements.

“That’s me. Someone else might be doing it. If you know who is doing it then close them down. They make these statements about money laundering. I don’t know how this is going on. They must have some information to suggest that. Go after those people and not the whole industry. It makes no sense.”

Mr Lunn said businesses such as his qwere already governed by legislation. “There are laws and regulations already. We’re technically pawnbrokers,” he added.

“The law is very clear on how that business must run, what you must do, what kind of identification you must get and how long you must hold the goods for. I don’t know what else they’re going to do. The laws are there.”

The Pawnbrokers and Second-Hand Dealers Act 2011 imposes upon a business owner or dealers the duty and responsibility to verify the identity of customers, maintain records and keep certain items in an unaltered state for specified periods.

The Bill also empowers a police officer, acting on reasonable suspicion, to enter a dealer’s premises and request the production of all articles in their possession for inspection, and request the production of copies of records required to be kept by the dealer.

“One or two bad apples spoil it for the whole industry. They want to dump the whole industry and think that’s going to correct the problem. All that does is push it underground because the thief is going to continue to break in and steal. The stealing is still going to go on,” said Mr Lunn.

“It’s a moral issue. How I run my business may be completely different from how the next guy runs his businesses, although we may be in the same business. The police know full well which companies engage in encouraging stolen goods to be brought to them and what not. Our company is currently running an advertisement encouraging people not to sell their gold. We give people the option to buy their jewellery back.”

“We’re already operating in a difficult market. It’s a contracted market. Most people have already sold what they have to make ends meet. All of this talk is creating a lot of uncertainty. I’m not going to expand my business or employ additional people if I don’t know what they’re going to do with regards to the law,” added Mr Lunn.

“When they leave you in this limbo you can’t plan for your business, and businesses must plan for the future or you won’t have a business.”