A U.S. deep-sea treasure hunter, Tommy Thompson, 73, has been released from prison after a decade for refusing to disclose the location of gold coins from the famed 1857 wreck of the SS Central America, also known as the Ship of Gold. Approximately 500 coins remain unaccounted for.
Thompson discovered millions of dollars worth of sunken treasure off the coast of South Carolina in 1988. Investors in his venture accused him of cheating them out of promised proceeds. After years on the run, he was jailed in 2015 on a criminal contempt charge.
The SS Central America was carrying 30,000 pounds of gold minted in San Francisco when it sank. The ship, en route to the east coast to establish a bank reserve, went down 7,000 feet, taking with it 425 passengers and crew. This event contributed to the financial panic of 1857.
A total of 161 investors had provided Thompson with $12.7 million to find the ship, expecting returns on their investment. Thompson, then an oceanic engineer, and his crew recovered thousands of gold bars and coins in 1988. A significant portion was later sold to a gold marketing group in 2000 for approximately $50 million.
Thompson maintained that the coins were transferred to a trust in Belize. He stated that profits from the initial gold sale were largely allocated to legal fees and bank loans, according to CBS News.
The investors filed a lawsuit against Thompson in 2005, alleging they had not received any proceeds from the treasure’s sale. A subsequent criminal complaint indicated that the recovered gold bars and coins were valued up to $400 million.
Thompson disappeared in 2012 while facing court demands. He and an associate were apprehended in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2015. They had been residing in a hotel for two years, paying cash under a false name and utilizing taxis and public transport to evade detection.
Thompson was held in contempt for refusing to reveal the whereabouts of the approximately 500 missing gold coins. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison in December 2015. Civil contempt sentences are typically indefinite, continuing until the court order is fulfilled—in this case, divulging the location of the missing coins.
However, last year, the judge agreed to terminate Thompson’s civil contempt sentence. The court reasoned that he was unlikely to ever provide the requested information, as reported by CBS News.
Fonte: BBC News
