Case opens against courier accused of stealing gold

(CNS): The crown stated that Evan Robinson stole thousands of dollars worth of gold from Cash Wiz between November 2011 and March 2012 when his trial opened Wednesday. The court heard that Robinson not only stole some $30,000 worth of gol, but pawned a little under half of it for personal gain. Robinson was the main Federal Express courier Cash Wiz called upon to deliver its packages destined for US refineries. The court heard that Cash Wiz employees became concerned by the inconsistencies in the packages delivered by Robinson and accused him of being the cause, which at the time he admitted but he has since denied the accusations.

In her opening statement to the jury, crown prosecutor Toyin Salako described how Cash Wiz’s gold items were sealed and delivered through Federal Express. It was confirmed that in order for a package to be sent, the gold items must be sealed in a plastic bag, wrapped in a sealed box, and again wrapped in another sealed FedEx box. The lawyer explained that if the boxes and bag were opened, they could not be resealed as before and the boxes have to be replaced.

The US refinery informed Cash Wiz of inconsistencies in the weight of gold from when they are packaged to their destination. As a result, the firm came up with a plan to find out what was going on. In order to determine if the same box that was sent arrived at the refinery, the inside of a package containing gold was marked with a yellow highlighter pen for the refinery to identify once it was delivered.

Robinson was the courier to deliver this package. The court heard that after the refinery had received the package with no mark present, the assumption was that Robinson, being the main Federal Express courier for Cash Wiz, stole the gold.

The case presented against Robinson was that he stole some gold and repackaged the rest in boxes provided by Fed Ex. The Cash Wiz employees, assuming Robinson was the thief, confronted him on the phone about the missing gold. The court heard that Robinson began apologizing and went to the company’s office to talk it over.

At the office, Robinson admitted stealing gold from packages he delivered as well as pawning some of the gold he had stolen. Robinson then left Cash Wiz, and upon returning brought 10 gold pieces back valued around CI $8,000. An employee at the office recorded Robinson on video admitting to stealing and showing items he had stolen. He left Cash Wiz soon afterwards.

After this confrontation, a complaint was filed to Federal Express and the police were called. Robinson was arrested and interviewed by the RCIPS. In his interview he denied stealing or pawning any gold from Cash Wiz and stated that he was forced to do so in order to save his job. The prosecution claimed that Robinson admitted to stealing and pawning gold from Cash Wiz because that is what he did.

Robinson is charged with stealing $31,000 worth of gold from Cash Wiz and pawning $11,790 worth of the gold that he is alleged to have stolen.

He has denied all charges and his trial will continue later this week.