GRANDPARENTS who unwittingly held onto and tried to sell gold bars that had been previously stolen from an 18th-century shipwreck have shared the harrowing details of their ordeal. Philip and Gay Courter were arrested on June 29, 2022, in connection with money laundering, organized crime, and the trafficking of cultural goods - but say they had no idea the bars were stolen. Instead, the couple has claimed they were asked to hold onto the bars with a French couple they became friendly with and vacationed with in the 80s, they told The New Yorker .
Their link - and the French couple's involvement with the stolen goods - was only first uncovered when the bars were recognized on an episode of Antiques Roadshow . The Courters were arrested two years ago as they tried to disembark the Island Princess cruise ship on the south coast of England for a two-week tour of Norway. The couple was only on the cruise after being granted it free for their experience on a cruise ship during the Covid pandemic.
READ MORE ON NEWS The Courters said they were confused when they were asked for their passports and then jailed once they landed on shore. While in jail Gay, a diabetic, went for hours without food or her medication while Philip was strip-searched. The couple depleted their savings spending $300,000 on legal battles.
The couple's daughter described her parents as "hollow shells of the people I knew," she told the New Yorker. Most read in The US Sun "It is not an exaggeration to say that no.
