An American novelist and her husband are among several pensioners facing a potential trial in France over the illegal sale of gold bars stolen from an 18th-century shipwreck.
Eleonor "Gay" Courter, 80, and Philip Courter, 82, have been accused of helping sell bullion online for a French diver who plundered the Le Prince de Conty, which sank off Brittany in 1746.
The couple deny any knowledge of wrongdoing.
French prosecutors in Brest have requested the Courters be tried alongside underwater photographer Yves Gladu, 77, and Annette May Pesty, 78.
Le Prince de Conty sunk during a storm
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An investigating magistrate must still decide whether to order a trial, with proceedings likely in autumn 2026.
Le Prince de Conty, a French vessel trading with Asia, went down during a storm near Belle-Île-en-Mer in winter 1746.
The wreck lay undiscovered until 1974, when it was found in 10 to 15 metres of water.
Following the discovery of a gold ingot during a site survey, the wreck was plundered in 1975.
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Following the discovery of a gold ingot during a site survey, the wreck was plundered in 1975
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Archaeologists later uncovered 18th-century Chinese porcelain, tea crate remnants and three Chinese gold bars before a violent storm in 1985 scattered the ship's remains and halted official excavations.
The scheme unravelled in 2018 when Michel L'Hour, head of France's underwater archaeology department, noticed five gold ingots being sold on an American auction house website.
He believed they came from the Prince de Conty and US authorities seized the treasure, returning it to France in 2022.
Investigators traced the seller to Gay Courter, an author and film producer in Florida.
Le Prince de Conty was a French vessel trading with Asia
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Courter said she received the gold from Pesty and her late partner Gerard.
Gladu confessed in custody in 2022 to retrieving 16 gold bars during approximately 40 dives between 1976 and 1999.
French investigators concluded the Courters possessed at least 23 gold bars total, selling 18 ingots for over £140,000, including some through eBay.
The couple's lawyer, Gregory Levy, said: "The Courters accepted because they are profoundly nice people. They didn't see the harm as in the United States regulations for gold are completely different from those in France."
He added that the couple had not profited from the sales.
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