There is an ongoing intention to audit the U. S. gold reserves, particularly at Fort Knox and other storage sites. However, there are significant concerns regarding the credibility of past audits conducted by the U. S. Treasury and its affiliates.
1. Current Audit Claims: The U. S. Treasury states that the U. S. gold is annually audited by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and KPMG LLP. The 2024 audit reports are available online.
2. Audit Credibility Issues: While the OIG verifies the seals on vault compartments annually, this does not guarantee that the audit processes were credible. Historical issues raise significant doubts.
3. Research Findings: Extensive research since 1974 has revealed numerous failures within the audit processes, including:
• Divergence from prescribed auditing protocols.
• Loss or destruction of various audit reports.
• Exclusion of significant amounts of gold from verifications.
• Obstruction of information regarding audits by the government.
• Breaking of tamper-evident seals that were supposed to remain unbroken.
4. Vault Compartment Concerns: There are frequent and unexplained re-openings of compartments. This undermines the assurance that the gold is still present as stated.
5. Historical Context of Audits: 97% of gold was verified from 1974 to 1986, but after that, there were periods with no audits, and the OIG allegedly reopened sealed compartments without appropriate justification.
6. Lack of Transparency: The testimony from OIG representatives in congressional hearings has raised questions due to inconsistencies with documented evidence.
The audits intended to verify U. S. gold reserves instead highlight serious doubts about the safety and accountability of these assets. A new, credible audit is essential to ensure the complete and transparent accounting of U. S. Treasury gold. This re-evaluation is necessary to address questions about potential encumbrances on the gold reserves. There is hope for a future audit model akin to the proposed Gold Reserves Transparency Act.
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