Hi Stackers,
Recents trips to the Perth Mint have got me curious about the famous 1982 Perth Mint Swindle and I realise there are probably a lot of #steemsilvergold members who live outside of Australia, and would love to hear the story. Over the years, the swindle was popularized in books, movies and TV series alike.
The Swindle
It was a brazen, middle of the day heist, executed without a hand or eyebrow raised. Sixty eight kilograms of gold disappearing from the Perth Mint, last known whereabouts a small airport just south of Perth. Stolen cheques were used to fool the Mint into releasing the gold, and three courier vans made the pickup, never to be seen again. Current value around 3.5 million Australian dollars.
The Mickleberg Brothers
Shortly after the heist, three brothers were identified as the prime suspects. They were mainly cleanskins, but had come to some notoriety in the years before, by manufacturing a fake nugget in one of the brothers workshops and presenting it on national television. One of the brothers was also charged in the months prior to selling a nugget to popular Perth businessman Alan Bond, for an inflated amount.
The three brothers were eventually charged over the robbery, and at trial were found guilty of the conspiracy and each of the brothers were sentenced to between twelve and twenty years prison. They always maintained their innocence and claimed they were set up.
Convictions Quashed
Amid a wave of Police corruption, false testimony, fingerprint planting, fabricated confessions the brothers eventually had their convictions overturned in 2004, after seven legal attempts, the two surviving brothers (the youngest brother Brian died in a suspicious plane crash following his release from jail in 1986) were paid around 1.1 million dollars each in compensation for legal costs and time served. The Gold has never been found.
References
Avon Lovell's The Mickelberg Stitch
ABC News online Micklebergs cleared over Perth Mint swindle
MICKELBERG v. THE QUEEN [1989] HCA 35
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