A worker at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra pleaded guilty this week to stealing $135,000 Australian (100,000 of our actual dollars) from his employer by smuggling them out every day in his lunch box and shoes.

Authorities apparently are not sure exactly how much William Grzeskowiak got away with.  They recovered 67,926 $2 coins from his garage and his mom’s house when he was arrested in February, and that was the amount that he was stated as having stolen.  But that assumes, of course, that they got all the money back.  Grzeskowiak told the court that he took the money because it gave him a "sense of empowerment" and because he enjoyed the challenge, not so he could spend it, so I guess that makes them confident that he didn’t actually spend any of the coins.

According to the article, Grzeskowiak stole nearly half a metric ton of coins over a 10-month period.  Assuming those figures are accurate, that would mean he had smuggled out an average of nearly four pounds of coins every day during that time.

Tip for national mints everywhere: departing employees who tend to shuffle out wearing oversized, jingly shoes should be searched thoroughly each and every day.

Link: AP via FindLaw.com