Overview

• French prosecutors in Brest have formally requested trial of Eleonor “Gay” Courter, her husband Philip, Yves Gladu and Annette May Pesty for illegally selling gold bars looted from the wreck of Le Prince de Conty.
• Investigators concluded the Courters held at least 23 gold bars and sold 18 ingots for over $192,000 via platforms including eBay, though the couple denies knowing the bullion’s illicit origin.
• Yves Gladu confessed during his 2022 custody to recovering 16 gold bars in about 40 dives from 1976 to 1999 and selling them in 2006 to a Swiss buyer, while denying any transfer to the Courters.
• In 2018, Michel L’Hour of France’s underwater archaeology department flagged five ingots on a U.S. auction site, prompting Department of Homeland Security agents to seize and return them to France in 2022.
• An investigating magistrate must still rule on the prosecutors’ request, and if approved the case is expected to proceed in a French court in autumn 2026.