A former Royal Canadian Mint employee has been convicted of theft and money laundering for the crime of smuggling $165,000 in gold “pucks”, likely in his rectum.
Ontario Justice Peter Doody ruled in agreement with a Crown probe that alleged that Leston Lawrence, 35, stashed the shiny pucks where the sun don’t shine in a bid to escape the attentions of metal detectors in the historic Mint building in Ottawa.
Lawrence, who worked at the Mint between July 2008 and March 2015, was found guilty of stealing — over a period of time — 22 gold pucks worth $165,000.
WATCH: Bum rap? Mint employee accused of smuggling gold in his rectum
“His locker contained Vaseline and latex gloves, which could have been used to insert a puck into his rectum,” Justice Doody ruled according to the CBC.
“In my view, there is only one conclusion that can be reached when the totality of the evidence is considered — that Leston Lawrence secreted gold pucks out of the Mint.”
An inside job began to be suspected in early 2015 after a Royal Bank of Canada teller noticed that Lawrence kept depositing cheques from Ottawa Gold Buyers, situated in the same mall as the bank branch. Upon noticing that Lawrence worked at the Mint, the teller smelled a rat and alerted the RCMP.
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The Mounties promptly put Lawrence under surveillance, and spotted him again visiting the same store on March 9, 2015. They also seized gold pucks from his bank safety deposit box and had them analyzed by well-gloved experts, who concluded that the pucks were identical to those produced at the Mint in both purity and size.
The court ruling noted that Lawrence, who made about $55,000 annually, had transferred $35,000 to a building contractor in Jamaica as well as $34,000 to a boat supplier in Florida.
Lawrence was convicted of theft, money laundering, possession of stolen property and breach of trust. Sentencing is expected to be handed down on Nov. 28.