Police release footage in hunt for 63,000 stolen Bluey coins
Written by admin on October 10, 2024
Police have released footage in a push to find more people involved in the theft of 63,000 limited-edition coins despite having charged two men.
On Thursday morning, NSW Police released CCTV footage of a man they believe can help with their inquiries, seen at a Commonwealth Bank in Revesby in Sydney’s west.
Police describe him as Pacific Islander or Maori in appearance, medium build with a black beard. Footage shows him getting out of the front passenger seat of a white 4WD, giving a homeless person something outside the bank and walking in with a black backpack.
The footage released by police cuts off as he approaches what appears to be a coin deposit machine.
Police are also still searching for the driver of the white 4WD. This person cannot be clearly seen inside the car.
A truckload of limited-edition $1 coins were stolen from a warehouse in Wetherill Park in western Sydney in June.
The coins were being stored in a warehouse and were marked with an image of the now-iconic Australian cartoon character Bluey.
Police have arrested and charged two men for the theft. The coins are being sold for 10 times their face value.
Some of the coins were found in the possession of a legitimate collector. After that discovery, police made the arrests and found 189 of the unreleased coins at the home of a 47-year-old male.
That man has been charged with three counts of break and enter to commit a serious indictable offence. Police will allege in court he worked at the warehouse the coins were taken from.
A second man, aged 44, has appeared in court on the same charges, though his alleged connection has not been reported.
Anyone who has a Bluey coin does not have to surrender them to police.
Superintendent Joe Doueihi said in August if anyone was “lucky” enough to have one of the coins in their personal possession, they were legally tendered currency and could be used in general circulation.
The coins were due to enter circulation in September. In mid-August, police said they had recovered about 1000 of the 63,000 coins.
The stolen coins are different from a set of three Bluey-themed coloured coins the Royal Australian Mint released in June. Those 90,000 $1 coins are being sold online for $20.
Bluey is an Australian-made, global cartoon phenomenon.
