Alleged fish thieves arrested, accused of stealing $4m worth of salmon

Alleged fish thieves arrested, accused of stealing $4m worth of salmon

By Erin Lyons

Source: NCA NewsWire

1/17/2021

Five salmon plant employees are accused of stealing millions of dollars worth of the pricey fish through an alleged carefully crafted scheme.

Police will allege the processing plant’s boss contacted authorities in December amid concerns of co-ordinated theft among staff.

Detectives were told the company had conducted an internal audit that “revealed a significant reduction in the output of product through their processing plant at Ingleburn”.

About 600kg of salmon was unaccounted for each day.

“Police will allege in court that the syndicate used their roles within the company to falsely grade premium salmon products as waste, which were then removed from the plant and transported for on-sale or traded for other product,” NSW Police said in a statement.

Speaking to 2GB’s Ben Fordham, acting Inspector Graham Napier alleged the group became unstuck because they were “too brazen”.

Officers arrived at the plant on December 20 and arrested two women, aged 30 and 31, who were issued a court attendance notice for larceny as clerk/servant.