White Collar Crimes

It appears that high level white collar type robber has just occurred at the Royal Canadian Mint, the institution that prints physical cash, and mints gold coins for the Canadian government.

An external audit review has concluded that about $15.3 million worth of gold is unaccounted for, and untraceable.

The External auditors that theft rather than an accounting error was the more likely cause of an “unreconciled difference” between the mint’s 2008 financial records and its physical stockpile of gold located at its downtown headquarters, in Ottawa the capital of Canada.

The Royal Canadian Mint says the precious metals seem to have vanished from its inventory in the 2008 fiscal year.

The $15.3-million figure is based on gold prices on Dec. 31, 2008, the mint’s fiscal year-end date. At today’s (June 25, 2009) prices, the precious metals would be worth about $16.3 million.

An unaccounted for difference in silver also was identified, the report noted.

The Royal Canadian Mint has requested the RCMP’s assistance to investigate the matter. The police force’s review is “ongoing.”

The opposition parties told Canwest News Service that the situation reflects the government’s “gross incompetence.”

“Either they’ve got to admit that they’ve got somebody stealing the gold, or they’re incompetent and they lost $15 million worth of gold because they’re not very good at refining and re-refining,” a member of the opposition suggested.

Rastalivewire Reports
June 25, 2009

See

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/missing+from+Royal+Canadian+Mint+Deloitte/1743823/story.html