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Mystery gold ingots found on Paris train go unclaimed Mystery 'gold ingots' found on Paris train are fake
(about 2 hours later)
A suitcase containing 20kg (44 lbs) of gold bars has been found on a train near Paris. Twenty 'gold' bars found in a case on a train near Paris last week have been found to be fake.
The bomb squad was called in after an employee found a suspect package on board the RER train at Massy-Palaiseau station on Thursday. A suspect package on board a RER train at Massy-Palaiseau station was examined by the bomb squad and found to contain what seemed to be 20kg (44 lb) of gold.
The case was found to contain 20 ingots, with a value of around 800,000 euros ($1m; £670,000) should they prove to be genuine gold. French police have now established that the bars are made of a base metal - with a thin coating of gold.
French police are looking for the person who abandoned the blue case. The ingots would have been worth around 800,000 euros ($1m; £670,000) if they had been genuine.
As the bars do not have official stamps on them, the authorities think they may have been made from melted down gold. Police in Palaiseau, south-west of Paris, told Reuters news agency that they were not ruling out the possibility that the fake bars were part of a scam - in light of the worldwide demand for gold.
Investigators believe the case's owner probably left it on the train deliberately - fearing a police check - and is thus unlikely to come forward to claim it. They are now examining CCTV from all the stations visited by the train, which had started its journey at Roissy on Thursday. The find had prompted speculation that if classed as "treasure," the bars could be shared between the Paris transport operator and the conductor who found it.
If the gold remains unclaimed, it is unclear who would benefit.
The case might be considered "treasure," in which case the gold would be shared by the Paris transport operator (RATP) and the conductor who found it.
But if it were classed as a "found object," it would be placed under seal and put in the state's coffers.