Belgium''s financial newspaper reports GATA lawsuit

By Bill Murphy, Chairman
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
December 13, 2000

Gold legend Jim Sinclair called today to let me know
that he considers Reg Howe's lawsuit against Chase,
J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, et
al. was the most positive development for gold in 21
years.

Sinclair believes that GATA's and Howe's assertions
will be proven once we get into discovery and
depositions. It is one thing to dismiss the GATA/Howe
claims as baseless to reporters; it is quite another to
do so under oath, Sinclair said. It is his opinion that
the overwhelming evidence of collusion, as presented in
Howe's lawsuit, probably leaves the defendants in
violation of the federal RICO (Racketeer-Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations) law.

The RICO Act was passed by Congress in 1970 as a
powerful tool in the fight against organized crime. The
RICO Act enables people financially injured by a
pattern of criminal activity to bring a RICO claim in
state or federal court and to obtain damages three
times the amount of their actual damages, plus
attorney's fees and costs.

According to Sinclair, not many of these Ph.D's will
perjure themselves, risking jail sentences, to stay
faithful to their investment house.

All it will take is ONE rat to desert the sinking ship,
and then most of the rest will follow.

Sinclair is so impressed by GATA's quot;Gold Derivative
Banking Crisisquot; report and Howe's lawsuit that he is
sending GATA a five-figure contribution. He hopes that
many other big gold players (or those who used to be
big gold players) will send similar contributions.
Sinclair knows that our case is VERY winnable but that
it will take a couple of million dollars or more to
challenge adversaries with such deep pockets.

Sinclair is one of the great legends in the gold
industry. In the 1970s and '80s, his brokerage firm was
the most prominent in the big gold market run. His
clients included Arab sheiks and many of the elite in
New York. Rarely a day went by that he was not quoted
by the press.

He still is frequently quoted.

The following paragraphs were taken from Tim Wood's
recent story at www.miningweb.co.za:

* * *

Ashanti still not off the hook over hedging fiasco

NEW YORK -- Ashanti Goldfields' close brush with
bankruptcy last year may yet have a sequel in an
American court. A revised consolidated class-action
suit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of New York, with the plaintiffs
demanding unspecified damages for alleged reckless
financial speculation.

Instead of mining gold, out-of-pocket shareholders say,
Ashanti gambled with exotic financial instruments whose
success required the price of gold to decline
indefinitely. Ashanti CEO Sam Jonah and ex-CFO Mark
Keatley are also named as defendants in their personal
capacity....

James Sinclair, a sagacious 40-year veteran of the gold
market says the case is quot;very important to the
investors' side of the industry because it reveals the
lack of procedure or lack of knowledge of proper
procedures required to make decisions in the hedge
system. There is no market for the hedge instruments.
There is only a system.quot;

* * *

Thanks much, Jim. You made my day and GATA's too.

Today I finally reached Ralph Nader's top aide at the
Center for Responsive Law. He told me he thought Ralph
Nader would be very interested in this type of
corruption case. A Fed Ex package is going out to him
in about an hour.