Royal Canadian Mint accuses ex-employee of stealing $140,000 worth of gold by smuggling it in his rectum

If a New Jersey man hid a .25-calibre gun inside his anus, it is not surprising that an ex-Royal Canadian Mint employee was allegedly able to smuggle gold by hiding the yellow metal inside his anus. However, 35-year-old Leston Lawrence was caught and is now facing theft, laundering, possession of stolen property and breach of trust charges.

The New York Daily News reports that Lawrence allegedly slipped US$140,000 (A$183,473) worth of gold past security by hiding it in his anus. He sold the stolen precious metal to an Ottawa Gold Buyers store.

Lawrence appeared on Tuesday before Justice Peter Doody who said he would give his verdict in November, but Lawrence declined to take the stand. He sold 18 gold pucks, which weigh 7.4 ounces each, to Ottawa Gold Buyers between Nov 27, 2014 and March 12, 2015. Each pack is worth about US$6,800 (A$8,907) each.

The mint has sophisticated metal detectors and the only way gold could be smuggled out is hiding it inside a body cavity such as the rectum, reports CBC. Lawrence has set off the detector more than three times, but he passed the secondary security check which uses a handheld wand.

The pucks are round and cylindrical, with smooth sides and bottom and made by dipping a special spoon into hot gold. The four pucks found in Lawrence’s safety deposit box matched the mint’s dipping spoon pattern. The dipping spoon is custom-made to the milllimetre.

A bank teller noticed the large amount of gold buyers’ cheques that were being deposited in the account of Lawrence who was then an employee of the Royal Canadian Mint. The teller informed authorities and an investigation discovered four pucks in his safety deposit box and a bottle of Vaseline in Lawrence’s work locker.

The pucks look similar to those in the mint, but because it was unmarked, Gary Barnes, lawyer of Lawrence, says it is not sufficient evidence the pucks were stolen from the mint. He adds the mint did not even notice any puck is missing.

VIDEO: Man Shoves $140K of Gold Up His Ass