Sunken Treasure for Edwards?

Odyssey Marine Exploration went to the depths of the seas to salvage a centuries-old shipwreck from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month. Now the Tampa-based company will have to climb a legal mountain to determine who gets the bounty – and a presidential candidate is involved.

The biggest shareholder in Odyssey is New York-based Fortress Investments, a private equity and hedge fund manager. The group’s major investor is presidential candidate John Edwards. Last year Edwards received a salary of $479,000, according to financial disclosure forms, while acting as a senior consultant.

But if Edwards wants the bullion, he may have to put some lawyering skills to work.

James Goold, of counsel at Covington & Burling, filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida yesterday on behalf of his client, the Kingdom of Spain. The suit lays Spanish claim to what may be the richest shipwreck treasure in history. The ship, code-named Black Swan, has an assortment of silver coins thought to be worth $500 million.

Goold says that Odyssey’s refusal to identify the ship, its cargo, or its location has prevented Spain from determining whether it owned the vessel.

“When you conduct salvage without consent you are acting entirely at your own risk,” says Goold. “But all of the information thus far suggests the bullion was Spanish.”

Which means Edwards may also have to start flexing those foreign policy muscles.

Comments

[juan]

I agree with the comments above. Would the descendants of the incas have a legal claim to this treasure?

[Regina Polo]

Spain, its time to let the greed rest! I am a native Panamanian and agree with the comment above, in that the perecious cargo was stolent with brutality and enslaving of native americans. Odyssey, on the other hand, used modern, civilized technology to procured this booty, and althogh the treasure clearly does not belong to either Spain or Odyssey; the manner in which each aquired it should have a great deal to do with which party should be favored.

[Vincent]

The coins are spanish... (see CHARLES III face)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QX6CjIb6a_M

so they must return it to Spain ASAP.

[Jack Dyer]

James Goold please ask Spain and the Catholic Church where they got the silver and gold from? Do they have a bill of sale? All the information so far indicates the bullion was Inca. Has anyone sued Spain in the International Court for theft?

[David Crooks]

I am astounded that Spain has asserted claim over sunken Spanish vessels from the 17th century and is making claim against Odyssey Marine Exploration.

The truth of the matter is that Spain brutally stole all the gold and silver contained in 17th century vessels from the South American Indians. Spain ruthlessly enslaved and murdered these Indians, it forced the Indians to mine the precious metals, and then it shipped the booty to Spain claiming it was theirs.

It seems that Spain's greed hasn’t ceased!