Bluey Bandit Busted: Man Charged Over Stolen Limited Edition Coins
Bluey Bandit Busted: Man Charged Over Stolen Limited Edition Coins
A man will face court today charged by Robbery and Serious Crime Squad detectives with allegedly stealing and selling unreleased limited edition Bluey coins from a warehouse in Sydney’s west earlier this year.
On Monday, 12 July 2024, police received a report that a large amount of currency had been stolen from a warehouse in Wetherill Park. Officers from Fairfield City Police Area Command discovered that 63,000 unreleased limited edition $1 Bluey coins, produced by the Australian Mint, had been stolen.
An investigation was launched by State Crime Command’s Robbery and Serious Crime Squad under Strike Force Bandit. Following extensive investigations, detectives executed a search warrant at a property in Sefton at around 7:25 am on Wednesday, 31 July 2024. During the search, they seized 189 unreleased limited edition Bluey coins and some electronic devices.
Further inquiries led strike force detectives, with assistance from Raptor Squad, to execute another search warrant at a home in Westmead at about 7:00 am today (Wednesday, 7 August 2024), where they arrested a 47-year-old man.
The man was taken to Granville Police Station and charged with three counts of break and enter to commit a serious indictable offence. He was refused bail and is set to appear before Parramatta Local Court today.
Police allege the man, an employee at the warehouse, located and stole the Australian Mint packages from the back of a truck on Sunday, 23 June 2024, and sold the coins online just hours later. The stolen Bluey coins are now being sold online for ten times their face value.
Investigations under Strike Force Bandit continue.