The Turkish Historical Society has claimed that gold that was obtained from the auctioning off of Armenian assets during the Ottoman era was seized by allied forces as war reparations in the aftermath of World War I, Hurriyet Daily News reported citing Bugün daily.

Around 5 million pieces of Ottoman gold reportedly belonging to exiled Armenians were taken by the allied forces, possibly by Britain, according to a recent two-year study by the society.

A group of Armenian-Canadians were paid compensation by a British bank from the seized fund, which now equals 1.3 million pounds.

The money was initially transferred to a German bank and was then divided between the Allies.

The U.S. government has been investigating the sources of the transfer in the Allies’ budget as well, Bugün said.