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Money Metals News Alert
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June 2, 2025 –
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are rising again today, as China accuses
the U.S. of violating a trade truce and threatens to hit back.
U.S. stock indexes and the dollar are
starting the week on a bad foot, while gold and silver are rallying again.
The war between Russia and Ukraine
escalated over the weekend after Ukraine's daring drone attack deep inside of
Russia.
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Gold : Silver Ratio (as of
Friday's closing prices) – 100 to
1
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Crooks Steal Millions in Gold and Silver in
Brazen Jewelry Store Burglaries
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Acquiring and holding hard assets is
one thing. Keeping them safe is quite another. A Southern California business
owner – and his customers – just learned this the hard way.
In recent days, thieves cleaned out a
Simi Valley jewelry store, making off with millions of dollars in uninsured
precious metals, jewelry, and cash in a brazen burglary.
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5 Star Jewelry and Watch
Repair is in a strip mall. The thieves broke into an adjacent candy/coffee shop
through the roof, spray-painted security cameras in the store, and then spent
several hours cutting through the concrete wall to access the jewelry store.
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Directly on the other side of the wall
was the backside of a 5,000-pound safe – apparently unprotected by vibration
or other sensors. The thieves cut through the steel wall in the back of the safe
and cleaned it out.
Jonathon Youssef owns the store with
his 71-year-old father, Jacoub. He compared the break-in to a movie like Oceans
Eleven or The Italian Job, and told
the LA Times that he thinks it was an experienced crew.
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???They were no
slouches, and this wasn???t their first rodeo. They knew where the cameras were, how
to evade detection and what equipment to use to get into the safe.???
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Youssef said the burglars made off
with between $2 and $2.5 million in gold and silver bullion, jewelry, watches, and
cash.
The store was insured, but remarkably
the policy did not cover the contents of the safe! Youssef claimed to the Times
they couldn???t afford the insurance premiums.
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The store offers repair
services, and some of the jewelry in the safe belonged to customers.
"Those are the
irreplaceable items that are difficult to accept," Youssef said. "I
couldn't care less about our inventory."
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Fighting back tears, Youssef told the
Times he and his father are both devastated by the loss.
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???It was a lifetime???s
worth of work — of struggle — gone, just gone. Everything we owned
and, worse, family heirlooms of our customers are gone. It???s unthinkable.???
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Just a few days later, there was a
similar break-in in Glendale. Thieves entered a jewelry store through the roof
and cleaned out the store. The owner told ABC News 7 that he thought he had a
???pretty sophisticated security system.???
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"I'm not sure how
they knew where it is. If they have motions or like sensors where they know where
this stuff is. I have no idea."
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Money Metals Depository CEO Stefan
Gleason said local businesses such as these frequently underestimate the
effectiveness of their security precautions.
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???They don't have the
controls, the security, or the insurance.???
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Money Metals Depository
operates a massive,
state-of-the-art vaulting facility in Eagle, Idaho that's known for its high
security, auditing, internal controls, and record of zero losses ever.
Gleason noted that
although these Southern California burglars were clearly professionals, they would
not have been successful if the business owners had taken better precautions.
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For example, Gleason pointed out that
cutting through walls and breaching a safe from behind isn???t an uncommon tactic by
thieves seeking to avoid alarm systems. If they can avoid triggering alarms,
burglars can gain hours to work undetected.
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???An experienced,
high-value security consultant would have immediately identified this
vulnerability and insisted that the deficiency be addressed. At minimum, a safe
should not be installed against an exterior wall – vibration sensors, motion
detectors, and/or laser curtains should protect all sides of it.???
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Furthermore, Gleason said safes are
not sufficient to hold extremely high values, as they only deter professionals
with proper tools for a few minutes. Either way, installing proper, redundant
electronic warning systems can improve any situation considerably. And insurance
is a necessary expense.
This tragic story underscores the
importance of vetting businesses (and their insurance coverages) before entrusting
them with your valuables. And since home security can more easily be defeated by
professional thieves, it's prudent for owners of large values of precious metals
to use a professional depository.
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This week's Market Update was
authored by Money Metals
Contributing Writer Mike
Maharrey.
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This copyrighted material may not
be republished without express permission. Offer only available through email
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and they should be made in consultation with your own advisors. By purchasing from
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the CFTC and the SEC.
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