Do you have some gold tucked away in a safe place? This Mint worker did! He was quite literally sitting on a gold mine. The now ex-Canadian Mint employee hid various sized gold pieces in his rectum to evade detection despite setting off metal detectors nothing untoward was found on his person. Leston Lawrence was found guilty in November of stealing 22 gold “pucks” and has this week been given a sentence of 30 months in prison and a CAD$190,000 fine. If he cannot repay this fine within 3 years of his release he will be sent back to prison for a further 30 months.
In early 2015 suspicious banking activity was noticed (a bad smell one pun too many?) and the Canadian Police found gold pieces in his safety deposit box that matched those produced at his place of work. It is believed Mr Lawrence used Vaseline and latex gloves which were found in his locker to smuggle out the gold. The conviction covered the stealing of 22 gold pieces over a period of 3 months in 2014, reselling the gold and spending the proceeds of his crime. Mr Lawrence had been an employee of the Mint for 7 years before being fired in March 2015. The Mint has since upgraded their security procedures.
