Mint employee accused of sneaking $180,000 of gold in his rectum

Updated

It's never right to steal from work, but one employee in Canada took the act to a whole other level.

Leston Lawrence, who worked at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa, is accused of smuggling over $180,00 worth of gold up his rectum.

The Mint did not discover the 35-year-old's theft; a bank teller did. Lawrence allegedly took small chunks of gold called "pucks" to a gold seller in an Ottawa mall.

According to local paper Ottawa Citizen, the pucks weighed around 7.4 ounces and he was given checks of $6,800 for them. He would deposit the checks in the same mall. From November 2014 to March 2015, Lawrence is said to have collected around $180,000 this way.

RELATED: See counterfeit money

One teller became suspicious; when she discovered he worked for the Mint, her suspicion grew. Police eventually began an investigation. Once they received a search warrant, they found four pucks in Lawrence's safety deposit box.

Authorities were able to prove that the pucks were exclusive to the Canadian Mint: they fit in a custom "dipping spoon" that is only found there. How, however, could he have snuck them out?

Lawrence reportedly set off the metal detector more than any employee without medical implants, but would pass a search every time. The defense team tested that a puck in the "anal cavity" would not set off the security alarm -- and it did not. Defense lawyer Gary Barnes said that investigators also found vaseline in Lawrence's locker.

Lawrence has since been fired from the Mint, where his duties included testing pucks for purity. He has been charged with theft, laundering the proceeds of crime, possession of stolen property and breach of trust.

The case concluded on Tuesday. Justice Peter Doody, who presided over the case, will not release the decision until November 9.

Advertisement