An Australian man who stole more than AUD$200,000 ($156,000) worth of gold from a remote mine in Western Australia said he wanted to use his ill-gotten gains to fund a family holiday to Greece, according to following article by greekreporter.com:
Joseph Andrew Cresp, 52, was working at the Sunrise Dam Gold Mine, 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) north-east of Perth, when he stole the precious metal in February of 2017.
“He saw the gold sitting there and wanted to surprise his wife for her birthday,” prosecutor Fiona Clare noted.
ABC News reports that the court was told Cresp had been working on a pump at the mine’s mill during a routine shutdown when a pile of dirt containing almost four kilograms of gold fell out of one of the sumps.
He hid the gold in his locker, walking out of the mine with it, driving home and hiding it inside his gun safe.
Following his confession, Cresp entered mediation with both the gold trader he defrauded and the owners of Sunrise Dam, South African mining giant Anglogold Ashanti.
A judge set him free after he ruled that Cresp had no sinister intent.
He argued that the 52-year-old’s actions were opportunistic, rather than explicitly criminal, and a prison term would cause undue hardship to Cresp’s family.
Read more here.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Source: greekreporter.com
