False: Governments around the world have secret reserves of wealth worth trillions of dollars.

Context

Videos circulating on social media are promoting a conspiracy theory regarding the wealth of governments around the world. One such video concerns the discovery of secret documents that supposedly prove governments hoard vast amounts of money sufficient to end societal challenges such as hunger and poverty.

Speaking on what the documents purportedly reveal, one speaker in the video comments, "in here you can see every country, almost every country I think on earth, hundreds of countries. In their bank accounts, national banks and other private banks they have huge amounts of money. And I’m talking huge amounts of money, with so many zeros you can’t count. It’s trillions of dollars."

While the video itself only shows zoomed-in, grainy footage of the documents being discussed, Logically has determined that the speakers are referring to a document designed to appear as though it has been issued by the "Committee of 300" via the "United Nation Organisation." Copies of this document have been available on file-sharing sites for several years. 

In Fact

When reviewing the document, several features become apparent that call into question its validity. Perhaps the most telling of these is the amount of wealth it claims is held by national governments. In total, it says millions of tonnes of gold are in secret accounts. These stockpiles would be of considerable value; however, they exceed the amount of gold that has ever been mined.

According to the World Gold Council, as of January 2022, "the best estimates currently available suggest that around 205,238 tonnes of gold have been mined throughout history." In September 2020, the BBC reported that the U.S. Geological Survey estimated there were 50,000 tonnes of unmined gold in discovered reserves worldwide. Even when combined, these figures fall far short of the millions of tonnes claimed to exist in government coffers.

Further details undermine the validity of this document. "The Committee of 300," which the document purports to be issued by, is not an official body but rather a reference to a long-running conspiracy theory concerning powerful figures controlling world events. No evidence has ever been produced that supports the existence of such an organization.

The document concludes with a section supposedly signed by figures, including former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. However, when images of Wolfowitz's signature are compared to this document, there are no similarities. This is true for other claimed signatories, including the U.K.'s former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Timms.

The Verdict

The document underlying this claim has several features that indicate it is not genuine. The amount of gold it describes exceeds that which has been mined thus far in human history. The organization that supposedly issued the document does not exist, and the signatures attached to it do not appear legitimate. This claim has therefore been marked as false.