The Swiss bank was in an enviable position during World War II: Known as the central banker's central bank, it handled much of the gold that was moving between governments.
On Monday, the Bank for International Settlements, or BIS, disclosed that 15 tons of gold it received from Nazi Germany had been plundered from foreign banks and stamped with phony prewar dates.The BIS report left open whether any of the gold was taken from concentration camp victims, such as wedding rings or gold teeth fillings, and general manager Andrew Crocket refused to exclude the possibility during an interview with Swiss radio.
BIS acknowledged nearly one-quarter of the gold had been stolen from the central banks of the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy.
The German Reichsbank deposited 15 tons of fine gold - worth $154 million today - from September 1939 to May 1945, BIS said. This was in addition to about 8 tons of gold Germany had on deposit before the war.
Germany had melted down and recast much of the plundered gold so that it bore phony Reichsbank stamps with prewar dates, it said.
After the war, 4 tons of the new gold was identified as having been stolen from the central banks of Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, the report said.
It was handed over to the victorious Allies - the United States, Britain and France - to be returned, and the Allies cleared BIS of any further obligations, it said.