Vikings suitor claims to be worth $5.1 billion

Tim Graham and John Wilen

Monday, June 29, 1998 | 11:42 a.m.

Shruti Misra, the Las Vegan trying to buy the Minnesota Vikings, claims to be worth $5.1 billion and have $2.4 billion in precious metals stored in a Las Vegas warehouse, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Sunday.

Experts today were intrigued by the report, which if true would be extraordinary. It would mean the relatively unknown Misra, 33, is worth more than casino moguls Steve Wynn, Sheldon Adelson and Donald Trump.

It would place her in the same league as Kirk Kerkorian, who owns most of the MGM Grand hotel-casino and studio. Kerkorian was included this month on Forbes' list of the world's richest billionaires -- Misra was not listed.

It would mean her precious metals holdings are worth more than the entire annual production of Nevada gold and silver mines. Nevada leads the nation in gold production, and 1996 Nevada gold and silver production totaled about $2.1 billion at today's prices.

Misra could not be reached for comment today. But precious-metals experts are aware of no secure location in Las Vegas for that much gold, silver, platinum and other precious metals.

"Impossible," said Mike Cohen, president of National Diversified Brokers, a Las Vegas precious-metals broker. "That would be absolutely insane."

There is simply no secure facility in the Las Vegas area large enough to handle the volume of precious metals Misra claims to own here, Cohen said. To put it in perspective, he said, $2.4 billion in gold would fill 15 semi-truck trailers top to bottom. And that's gold alone. Silver, which is less expensive, would take up even more space, he said.

"It's impossible; there's nothing here that would handle that," Cohen said.

Nobody would store that much metal in an unguarded facility, said Diane Kasterko of the Nevada Mining Association.

"You just don't put $2.4 billion worth of stuff in a warehouse," Kasterko said.

The Review-Journal story followed a report Friday in the Las Vegas Sun that said despite her claims of riches, Misra and Gupta don't own the home they live in.

The Sun also reported that her husband, Anil Gupta, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year, listing assets of $37,500 and liabilities of $991,265. Gupta also pleaded no contest to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft, a charge related to real estate transactions, after he was arrested in 1994.

A Montreal-based metals trader, speaking under condition of anonymity, was also highly skeptical of Misra's precious-metals claims.

"I've never heard of a private holding of gold to be that high," the trader said. "It just sounds weird."

It's even more unlikely the precious metals are stored in a warehouse, the trader said.

"Anybody who owned that much ... would be storing it in a safe location," for example in a federal depository such as Fort Knox or the New York Commodities Exchange warehouse, the trader said.

In gold, $2.4 billion would equate to about 20,000 400-ounce bars, the trader said, far more than could be stored in a bank vault. Any warehouse would be too unsecure, he added.

The Montreal-based trader had never heard of Misra; of her father, Chinranjan Misra, said to be the source of her wealth; or of Gupta. Both Shruti Misra and Gupta moved here from Montreal eight years ago.

Frank Ludeman, editor of the Mining Business Digest in Littleton, Colo., said it's unlikely someone could secretly accumulate $2.4 billion in precious metals.

Ludeman said, "That kind of word gets out -- $2.4 billion, my heavens, that's an unbelievable amount of gold, silver and platinum to have in a warehouse."

The disclosure of such an amount of precious metal could affect metals markets, Ludeman said, especially if the metals were going to be sold.

"If they're going to dump a bunch of that to buy the Minnesota Vikings," Ludeman said, "that could have a drastic effect on the market."

But other analysts were less skeptical.

Mike Kosares, a trader at Centennial Precious Metals in Denver, said he has heard reports of a woman who owns extensive land in Northern Mexico also owning a large amount of precious metals. Misra owns $2.72 billion in Northern Mexican real estate, the R-J reported.

Kosares also said there are many secret owners of precious metals.

"Lots of people have lots of metals," Kosares said.

And Ted Kempf, senior research analyst at The CPM Group, a New York precious-metals brokerage, said anything is possible.

"The Indians historically have been major purchasers of gold and silver, and they do have a deep historic and cultural interest in precious metals," Kempf said. Misra is of Indian descent.

And not all owners of precious metals want to advertise their holdings, he said.

"I think there are a lot of big holders out there. They're not going to advertise what they have," Kempf said.

The information is too sketchy at this point to determine whether such a large disclosure would affect metals markets, Kempf said.

"It's too vague at this point; there's not enough detail," he said.

Misra was seen in a local March 24 newspaper advertisement, paid for by a local charity, trumpeting her for a $5.1 million donation. But Active Blind and Visually Impaired of Nevada Inc. is not certain what Misra donated.

"So far as I know, she definitely has given the money," said Evelyn Fleet, the charity's executive director and chairwoman of its board. "It's in the form of bonds, and they are railroad bonds dating back to 1890. She also has given us land west of Reno near the mountains. I have the deed.

"But to tell you the truth, I am not sure how much the bonds are worth. I know the material goes from Switzerland to a financier in Houston, Texas. I have no idea how much it's worth. It's in a safety deposit box. As soon as I can get it evaluated, I will."

Fleet also noted that the charity has yet to receive actual cash to spend.

"The payments are supposed to start in two weeks, from what they tell me," she said.