A former worker at the Royal Australian Mint who stole thousands of dollars from his employer by hiding Aus$2 coins in his boots was on Wednesday jailed for three years.
William Bosia Grzeskowiak (48) admitted to stealing a total of Aus$135 852 (about R719 000) in coins and notes between April last year and February this year.
Over the 10-month period, the coining hall worker regularly walked out with about Aus$600-dollars of Aus$2 coins in his boots, and sometimes his lunchbox, under the eyes of watchful security guards.
He escaped detection thanks to his steel-capped boots, which he did not have to remove when being screened by security.
Grzeskowiak was arrested in the southern state of Victoria in February after he tried to change a large number of Aus$2 coins into notes.
Prosecutors alleged that he had also succeeded in exchanging an additional Aus$23 310 into other forms of cash by the time of the arrest, pointing to diary entries in which he referred to moving specific sums.
But Justice Terry Connolly said it could not be proved that Grzeskowiak had taken this extra amount because the mint was unable to say how many Aus$2 coins were missing.
The judge criticised the Canberra mint’s security, saying it was extraordinary it had failed to detect someone walking out every day with up to 150 coins in each boot.
Connolly imposed a non-parole period of 18 months and ordered that Grzeskowiak repay Aus$4 000. Police have already recovered more than Aus$100 000 from his mother’s garage. — AFP