2017-02-06 Mon

A Royal Canadian Mint employee named Leston Lawrence has been put in jail for 30 months for stealing gold coins from the mint. As many as 22 coins worth USD 127,116 were stolen. He sold 17 of them through Ottawa Gold Buyers. A fine of USD 145,900 has been imposed on him; in case he fails to pay the fine within 3 years of his release, he would be imprisoned for 30 months.

The stolen gold coins weighed 264g apiece and were sold for almost USD 7,300 each between 2014 and 2015. He used the money he made out of selling the stolen coins for buying a boat in Florida and a house in Jamaica. He used to purify gold at the mint from 2008 to 2015 in areas which were not under surveillance.