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Royal Canadian Mint
employee allegedly smuggled $140,000 worth of gold in his butt
The alleged gold heist was an inside job - in more ways than one.
The theft of about $140,000 worth of gold ($180,000 in Canadian dollars)
came from within the Royal Canadian Mint, investigators argued Tuesday.
Leston Lawrence, a 35-year-old employee of the government mint in Ottawa,
has been accused of foiling the facility's high security through a back-end
exploit: Lawrence smuggled out gold nuggets inside his rectum, prosecutors
alleged.
After a trial that concluded in Ottawa on Tuesday, Lawrence
faced charges of "a number of smuggling-for-cash charges, including theft,
laundering the proceeds of crime, possession of stolen property and breach
of trust," the Ottawa Citizen reported.
A suspicious bank teller
raised the alarm in 2015. Lawrence sold 18 gold pucks - each a circular
7.4-ounce nugget worth about $6,800 - to an Ottawa Gold Buyers store between
Nov. 27, 2014, and March 12, 2015.
washingtonpost.com
North America's Busiest
Shopping Center in Canada's 'Times Square'
Nordstrom Opens Toronto Eaton Center - Flagship
to Huge Crowds
Nordstrom opened its
CF Toronto Eaton Centre flagship to huge crowds on the morning of
Friday, September 16, and staff were busy throughout the weekend as hordes
of shoppers descended on the store to check out its wares. The store is
reportedly expected to be one of the company's top performers.
Shoppers and curious onlookers continued to visit the new Nordstrom store
throughout the weekend - adding considerable pedestrian traffic to
CF Toronto Eaton Centre, which is already the busiest shopping centre in
North America in terms of footfall.
Nordstrom Inc.
co-president Pete Nordstrom
told WWD that he expects the CF Toronto Eaton Centre Nordstrom to become
one of the chain's top five selling stores, joining top performing units in
downtown Seattle,
Bellevue Square (east of Seattle), Chicago Michigan Avenue and Vancouver
BC (CF
Pacific Centre, which opened in September of 2015). All but the Bellevue
Square store are downtown flagships. A large Manhattan store is expected to
become the chain's highest-volume unit
when it opens in 2019.
Nordstrom, as well as the entire CF
Toronto Eaton Centre, is expected to only become busier after
September 30 of this year when
Uniqlo opens its first
Canadian store at the north end of the centre. Uniqlo will be
located next to Nordstrom's north mall entrance, with signage facing
Dundas Square - Canada's answer to Times Square in New York City.
Nordstrom will be opening Yorkdale - its next Toronto store on October
21 of this year.
retail-insider.com
Canada Can Do More to
Fight Money Laundering, Terror Financing
A
review of Canada's efforts to fight money laundering and terrorism financing
received good marks from the International Monetary Fund, though it said
more improvement is needed in the country's legal framework and
implementation of its programs.
"The Canadian authorities have
achieved some success in combating money laundering, notably when conducting
law enforcement efforts with the support of Fintrac's analysis," the report
said. "However, these efforts are not entirely in line with the
money-laundering risks that Canada faces, and overall, the recovery of
proceeds of crime appears to be relatively low."
wsj.com
Expect more cuts at
Sobeys as 'sales challenges' continue amid botched Safeway integration
More pain is likely in store for Sobeys owner Empire Co. as the grocery
retailer seeks to cut costs and drive up flagging sales in the wake of its
botched integration of the Western Canadian Safeway chain.
"Our cost
base is too high given our sales challenges across the country, and
therefore it is critical that we optimize our cost structure so we can
reinvest cost savings to drive the top line," François Vimard, Empire's
interim chief executive, told analysts on a conference call Thursday after
the retailer reported a 40 per cent drop in quarterly earnings, steeply
missing analyst estimates.
"We will need to work over the next few
months to identify additional cost reductions aimed at improving our
efficiency."
Last year, the retailer announced it would cut about
1,300 jobs in 2016 and 2017 in order to reorganize its distribution centres
in Ontario and Alberta.
financialpost.com
Canada pushing toward a
cashless society with a 70 per cent drop in cash transactions by 2030
Government of Canada
Commits to Review Credit Card Market, Including Fee Levels
Walmart expands Visa
boycott in Canada to 16 Manitoba stores
Home Hardware goes
'aggressively' after growth
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Toronto, ON: Man stabbed repeatedly at Eaton Centre
A man in his 20s was attacked from behind and stabbed repeatedly inside the
Eaton Centre as bystanders watched in horror Tuesday afternoon. Amanda Lal, one
of the managers at La Senza, said she saw the victim knifed twice.
A security guard was in the store for a separate reason when the violence
erupted outside around 2:20 p.m. at the south end of the busy downtown mall. Lal
reports she saw one man "swarmed" by two other men, including "one with a knife
who got a shot to the abdomen."
"When the knife fell, he picked it up
again and was able to get another shot in the gentleman's back," Lal said.
"Again, security was able to get him off. Then (the stabber) ran away from the
scene."
Toronto Police Const. Jen Sidhu said "the victim was stabbed
multiple times" and "collapsed" in front of a crowd of shoppers as the attacker
ran off. "Officers responded to the scene and located a suspect outside the
mall," Sidhu said, explaining the arrest happened on Queen St. and a weapon was
recovered.
torontosun.com
Kamloops, BC: Northills
Shopping Centre evacuated due to reported bomb threat
Northills Shopping Centre closed on Tuesday afternoon after police responded to
what it believed to be a bomb threat.
A person who was working in a store in the mall at the time of the threat told
KTW the manager of the store confirmed a threat had been made, possible against
the TD Canada Trust bank. The person said he had been told two suspicious
packages had been found in the shopping centre and that a bomb squad was on its
way to Kamloops from Vancouver.
In the end, it was a hoax bomb-threat
call, the latest of many that have been made in Kamloops in the past few years.
kamloopsthisweek.com
'Armed and dangerous' Grand
Prairie mall shooter still on the loose
RCMP are
searching for a man wanted on an Alberta-wide warrant in connection to a
shooting at a Grande Prairie mall September 15. 23 year-old Liban Musse is
wanted on six weapon-related charges, including discharge of a firearm with
intent.
Police said Musse fired a single shot during an altercation at
the Prairie Mall, resulting in injuries to three people. He is considered armed
and dangerous, and police advise the public not to approach him.
ctvnews.com
Calgary, AB: Man faces four
charges after machete attack that injured policeman at Marlborough Mall
A 24-year-old man faces four charges after a Calgary police officer shot a man
during a machete attack at Marlborough Mall over the weekend. The man also had
two warrants for his arrest, police said. He was shot after police were called
to the Marlborough LRT about 2 p.m. Saturday for reports of a man fighting
people and swinging a machete. When police arrived, a man fled into a nearby
Sears store, with an officer chasing on foot. Inside, the officer used a Taser,
but it had no effect. As the officer drew his gun, the man attacked, slashing
him with a 48.3 centimetre machete. The officer is still recovering from the
"severe" injuries.
cbc.ca
Brampton, ON: Shooting of
Domino's Pizza employee linked to 5 robberies
The
shooting of a Domino's Pizza employee in Brampton during a robbery in August is
linked to five other robberies in the Greater Toronto Area, according Peel
Regional Police.
Acting Insp. Donny Ross, officer-in-charge of crimes
against property and robbery, said the incident is linked to robberies of a
Triple Triple Pizza and Chicken store in Toronto and a Hasty Market store in
Brampton as well as three separate robberies of people walking on the street.
cbc.ca
Calgary, AB: Police investigating after man with
'serious' stab wounds found at convenience store
Calgary Police are investigating after a man was found outside a convenience
store in the city's northeast, suffering from stab wounds. Authorities
were called to the scene at the Mac's Convenience Store after a staff member of
the store found the man, who was slipping in and out of consciousness.
Police say CCTV footage showed a large
white SUV dumped the injured man at the store and fled the scene. Officers are
waiting for the victim to become more stable in hospital before trying to obtain
additional information about the case.
calgaryherald.com
Prince Edward, CN: Toy store
loses valuable collectibles in weekend theft
Ottawa, ON: Attempted
theft at home improvement store
Robberies and Burglaries
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Atikokan, ON: Convenience store robber still at
large
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Fruitvale, BC: Liquor store robbed at gunpoint
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Nanaimo, BC: Woman arrested in attempted
gas station robbery
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New Brunswick: RCMP looking for help to
solve three business burglaries
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Niagara Falls, ON: Police ID suspect in
Niagara Falls variety store robbery
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St. John's, NL: 2 suspects wanted in
convenience store robbery
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Surrey, BC: Rollerblading bandit caught
after string of armed robberies
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West Kelowna, BC: Teen in police custody
after attemped robbery, assault at gas station
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Winnipeg, MB: Police looknig for suspect
linked to 12 armed robberies
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