World

Almost $20 Million in Gold Stolen From Canadian Mint

by Rob Walker | June 30, 2009 at 05:40 am

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The Royal Canadian Mint discovered that almost $20 million in gold has been stolen and has reported the theft to the RCMP. The news of the theft comes two weeks after news broke that the mint 'lost track' of millions of dollars worth of gold.

The missing funds came from an audit and appears to be theft relating to the mint's gold-refining operations. The mint is preparing to follow three recommendations regarding accounting procedures and building security.

An independent review of the Royal Canadian Mint's records has concluded that the disappearance of 17,500 troy ounces of gold – worth about $19-million at current prices – does not appear to be an accounting error.
With that ruled out, it's seen as more likely that the metal was stolen from the mint's gold-refining operations, not only without anyone noticing, but with officials scratching their heads for months about whether there was really a theft at all.

An independent audit of the Royal Canadian Mint’s records concluded that about C$19 million ($16.5 million) worth of gold is missing and appears to be a theft, the Globe and Mail reported.
The Ottawa-based mint alerted Canadian police to the missing 17,500 troy ounces of gold on June 9, the newspaper said. It’s more likely that the gold was stolen from the mint’s gold-refining operations than it is an accounting error, the paper said.