By Jessica McSweeney and Riley Walter
An employee of a warehouse storing a wealth of unreleased Bluey themed coins has been charged with stealing $600,000 worth of the currency from the back of a truck.
In July, police were told 63,000 unreleased $1 coins featuring the popular Australian cartoon character were taken from a storage facility in Wetherill Park in Sydney’s west.
The cartoon character Bluey, some of the seized coins, and the man arrested by NSW Police.Credit: ABC/Ludo Studio, NSW Police
Strike Force Bandit was formed to investigate. Bandit is the name of Bluey’s dad in the long-running show.
The “1 dollarbuck” coins were produced by the Australian Mint in a limited edition, and feature six-year-old blue heeler Bluey holding a balloon on the front and King Charles on the back.
On July 31, police raided a property in Sefton, in western Sydney, where they found 189 of the missing coins, and some electronic devices.
The man in possession of the coins was a legitimate coin collector who had innocently obtained them, police said. He bought the coins for about $1.50 each.
The “1 dollarbuck” coins were allegedly up for sale online just hours after being taken.Credit: NSW Police
NSW Police’s robbery and serious crime squad launched the investigation after the coins were reported stolen on July 3.
The stolen coins were in transit from the Mint to Brisbane when they were taken and were due to be released into circulation in early September.
On Wednesday this week, strike force detectives and officers from the Raptor Squad searched a home in Westmead before 7am, when they arrested a 47-year-old man.
Arrest footage released by police shows a group of heavily armed Raptor officers entering the Westmead property.
The man was charged with three counts of breaking and entering to commit a serious indictable offence. He was refused bail and is to face Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday.
The man, who police say worked at the warehouse, allegedly sold the coins online just hours after he stole them. The coins are now being sold individually by resellers.
It is alleged the man moved the coins from their secure location to an unsecured part of the warehouse and facilitated their theft.
This masthead has seen that the limited edition coins are being sold for between $15 and $26 on eBay.
Robbery and serious crime squad commander Detective Superintendent Joseph Doueihi said further arrests were expected, with police still searching for close to 63,000 of the coins.
A man will face court over the theft. Credit: NSW Police
Doueihi said police believed another two men were involved in the coin theft.
“I anticipate those males will be identified in the very near future and I anticipate they will be arrested,” he said.
Many of the coins were expected to now be in general circulation, Doueihi said. He did not ask people to return any coins obtained in general circulation.
Despite not being aware of the popular cartoon program before the operation, Doueihi welcomed the idea of a Bluey episode featuring Strike Force Bandit.
“If the producers decide to make an episode on this, that would be fine,” he said.
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