Sovereign Bank

A Tampa bankruptcy judge authorized Sovereign Bank to maintain possession of gold and rare coins taken by the bank last week from National Gold Exchange. The bank also has the court’s permission to go back into the business and resume its review of records and items remaining. An attorney for National Gold Exchange said in the hearing that what the bank took was the company’s inventory, which forced the business to shut down. The attorney said the company had been making $1 million per day.

National Gold Exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization June 24 as bank consultants were taking what Sovereign contends is collateral for $35 million in loans to the business. Rob Soriano, the bank’s attorney, alleged in a hearing Tuesday that some coins were being removed through the back door of the business as they arrived with a writ of replevin. He also said there were questions about more than $2 million in coins transferred to a company that does not exist.