Two Kalgoorlie-Boulder mining company employees will face court next month for allegedly stealing gold worth up to $1 million.The crime they were charged with was "stealing as a servant."
Police allege the men, aged 29 and 32, stole the gold from the Jundee mine, 50 kms east of Wiluna on Monday and hid it in nearby bushland.
Truth ain't fiction and fiction ain't truth, but I wrote a short story for this blog whose plot revolved around a more elaborate gold theft - one that smacked more of Mexico than Australia. You'll find it here.
The two men were contractors brought in to carry out specialised maintenance on the Mill.
ReplyDelete'Stealing as a servant' is a crime that carries more severe penalties than being charged with normal 'Stealing'. The reason for this is the breach of the employers trust.
Thanks for the explanation. In Canada, as far as I know, there's no special charge for that kind of crime. In the United States, some prosecutors have used "deprivation of honest services" to similar effect, but it tends to be used on politicians and top executives. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court limited its use.
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