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A Royal Canadian Mint worker was convicted of theft and money laundering this morning after a judge concluded he smuggled out $162,000 in gold, likely in his rectum, in a case that caused bewildered titters around the world.
Ontario Justice Peter Doody accepted the Crown theory that Leston Lawrence, 35, snuck 22 cylindrical gold nuggets, called pucks, in a body cavity to evade metal detectors at the fortress-like building on Sussex Drive.
Court heard he had set off the high-tech metal detectors 27 times in three months, but still didn’t come under Mint scrutiny.
Lawrence was also found guilty of laundering the proceeds of crime by shipping funds off-shore to Jamaica and the United States, of breach of trust, and the oddly-worded “conveying metal” out of the Mint, its own Criminal Code charge.
He worked in the high-security area of the Mint where raw gold is refined in a process that requires melting and chlorination. The precious metal is tested along the way by using a special dipping spoon that draws gold and cools it into puck-like cylinders that are examined for purity.
A search warrant uncovered four of the unmarked pucks in Lawrence’s safety deposit box and a paper trail that showed frequent sales to Ottawa Gold Buyers in the Westage mall on Carling Avenue and deposits, often in $7,000 chunks, to his nearby bank.
Defence lawyer Gary Barnes had argued there was no way to prove the pucks came from the Mint, nor did the Mint have records showing it had missing inventory or any reported thefts. Indeed, it was an alert bank teller that sent up a red flag, upon seeing Lawrence was a Mint employee.
In all, about $180,000 in pucks and coins were alleged to have been stolen, likely between November 2014 and March 2015.
Lawrence, who is out of custody, is to appear for sentencing submissions on Nov. 28.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
Ontario Justice Peter Doody accepted the Crown theory that Leston Lawrence, 35, snuck 22 cylindrical gold nuggets, called pucks, in a body cavity to evade metal detectors at the fortress-like building on Sussex Drive.
Court heard he had set off the high-tech metal detectors 27 times in three months, but still didn’t come under Mint scrutiny.
Lawrence was also found guilty of laundering the proceeds of crime by shipping funds off-shore to Jamaica and the United States, of breach of trust, and the oddly-worded “conveying metal” out of the Mint, its own Criminal Code charge.
He worked in the high-security area of the Mint where raw gold is refined in a process that requires melting and chlorination. The precious metal is tested along the way by using a special dipping spoon that draws gold and cools it into puck-like cylinders that are examined for purity.
A search warrant uncovered four of the unmarked pucks in Lawrence’s safety deposit box and a paper trail that showed frequent sales to Ottawa Gold Buyers in the Westage mall on Carling Avenue and deposits, often in $7,000 chunks, to his nearby bank.
Defence lawyer Gary Barnes had argued there was no way to prove the pucks came from the Mint, nor did the Mint have records showing it had missing inventory or any reported thefts. Indeed, it was an alert bank teller that sent up a red flag, upon seeing Lawrence was a Mint employee.
In all, about $180,000 in pucks and coins were alleged to have been stolen, likely between November 2014 and March 2015.
Lawrence, who is out of custody, is to appear for sentencing submissions on Nov. 28.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
