Crossville City Police were called to a local pawn shop. When they arrived, they were notified that the pawn shop had previously purchased a sealed one-ounce certified gold bar.
The pawn shop employees explained they had received the bar on 12/21/2023 and paid $1500.00 from a man identified as Robert Brent Robertson DOB 11-30-1980.

The pawn shop had been contacted by Bartow County Sheriff’s Office located in Cartersville Georgia on 05-01-2024. The employee was then notified that other pawn shops in Georgia had received counterfeit gold bars from the same subject. The pawn shop was contacted because of information that Mr. Robertson had also sold them a gold bar and that sale was listed through a pawn shop database.

The pawn shop owners then opened the sealed packages to conduct an “acid test” and “file test” on the item that they had purchased in December. The employees stated that when the tests were conducted they confirmed the bar was counterfeit.

The staff provided the police with a pawn slip showing the item was purchased on 12-21-2023 for the amount listed by Mr. Robertson. A property receipt for the gold bar to the owner of the pawn shop.

Bartow County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and they also emailed Crossville Police a copy of the report in their jurisdiction. The report indicated that Robertson was committing the same offense at multiple locations. Detectives were notified due to the theft amount and they were able to locate pawn records through a database showing Mr. Robertson had pawned bars of silver and gold at various locations across the state.

Mr. Robertson was shown to have pawned another gold one-ounce bar at a local pawn shop within minutes of the one they were investigating. At the time of this report, that pawn shop appeared to be closed for an extended period and no one could be reached to verify the authenticity of the gold bar they had received.
Warrants for criminal simulation and theft were taken out on Mr. Robertson and he had not been located at the time of the report. Mr. Robertson had intended to deprive the pawn shop of the $1500.00 by knowingly selling the counterfeit bar as a certified gold bar. Mr. Robertson is traveling to different areas passing the