eBay, stolen gold and a 18th century shipwreck: Why a 80-year-old novelist is facing trial

The vessel which had been on a voyage from Asia was discovered in 1974 and partially dug out by French archaeologists. The site revealed valuable Chinese porcelain, tea crates, and gold bars until a violent storm in 1985 scattered the wreck and halted official recovery efforts. However, the treasure apparently caught illegal attention long before that.

In 2018, suspicions arose when head of France’s underwater archaeology department Michel L’Hour, spotted five gold bars being auctioned on a US website. He contacted authorities who seized the items and returned them to France in 2022. The seller was identified as Eleonora Courter.

Courter maintained she had received the gold from French contact, including 78-year-old Annette May Pesty, who once claimed on Antiques Roadshow that she found the treasure while diving off Cape Verde. However, investigators traced the origin of the gold ingots back to Pesty’s brother-in-law, Yves Gladu, an underwater photographer with a long history of clandestine dives at the Prince de Conty site.

In a 2022 confession, Gladu admitted retrieving 16 gold bars over a 23 year period between 1976 and 1999. He claimed to have sold them all to a Swiss retiree in 2006, denying any involvement with the Courters’ stash. Yet investigators allege the Courters had access to at least 23 bars and sold 18 of them some on eBay netting nearly 200,000 dollars.

The couple insisted the proceeds were meant for Gladu and said they had no idea the items were stolen. Their attorney, Gregory Levy, said they were nice people who were misled. “They didn’t see the harm, as US laws regarding gold ownership differ greatly from French regulations,” he said, adding that the couple did not profit personally from the sales.

The Courters were arrested in the UK in 2022 and placed under house arrest. French prosecutors in Brest have since recommended a trial for the couple, Gladu, and Pesty. A judge is expected to rule on the matter soon, with proceedings likely to begin in late 2026.

Courter has authored several novels and nonfiction works many set on the high seas including a memoir about being quarantined on a cruise ship during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.