Latest news with #goldtheft
CBS News
16-07-2025
- CBS News
New York man accused of stealing $500,000 in gold bars from Pennsylvania woman
A New York man is accused of stealing more than $500,000 worth of gold bars from a woman in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In a news release, the Ephrata Police Department said 44-year-old Zhong Ren of Brooklyn is facing a list of charges, including theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception. Ephrata police said an investigation started in April after a woman contacted the department to report the theft of $555,892 worth of gold bars. Officers said they learned scammers gained access to the victim's computer in March and convinced her to turn her life savings into gold. Police said the scammers told the victim someone was trying to withdraw funds from her accounts, telling her to purchase gold bars and turn them over to "federal employees." The woman was told the gold would go to a Federal Reserve vault in Philadelphia as the "fraud claim" was being investigated, Ephrata police said. In April, individuals claiming to be federal employees stopped by the woman's house on two occasions to collect $555,892 worth of gold bars, officials said. One of those people was Ren, authorities said. Ephrata police, citing sources, said in the news release that Ren "could be a member of an international criminal organization that perpetrates these types of fraudulent activity." The 44-year-old New York man was arraigned, and bail was set at $550,000. He was then taken to the Lancaster County Prison. Ephrata is about 44 miles east of Harrisburg.
The Independent
13-06-2025
- The Independent
Gold from toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace ‘may have been smuggled abroad'
Gold from a toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace may have been smuggled out of the UK as police hunt a 'significant amount' in criminal assets linked to the thieves behind the heist. James Sheen is believed to have had the £4.75 million 18-carat gold toilet broken up before he tried selling the parts to underworld contacts, prompting searches in Birmingham and Hatton Garden in London, Thames Valley Police said. But the force said it is working with international partners and has not ruled out the chance that the gold was moved overseas. Detective Superintendent Bruce Riddell told the PA news agency: 'It could have got abroad. 'Obviously, there's restrictions on moving gold outside the country and if you're doing that you're taking a bit of a chance going through a border. 'So, it's probably more likely to be that at least the identity of it has changed in the UK before it was moved anywhere else.' Mr Riddell said the next stage of the probe is the identification and recovery of criminal assets, including luxury goods bought after the crime. He said: 'We will continue to explore all opportunities, along with our partners, to recover assets from those connected to this investigation and their criminality.' On 'career criminal' Sheen specifically, he said: 'Additional financial investigations are actively ongoing with our partners for a significant amount in assets.' The officer added: 'All he wants to do is make as much money as quickly as possible. 'He's not frightened of who he hurts or what he damages or the sentimental value of some of the items that he will steal.' The force has applied for a serious crime prevention order (SCPO) to take effect upon Sheen's release from prison, which if breached could mean he faces another five years behind bars. Sheen was jailed for four years and his sentence will run consecutively to the 19 years and four-month sentence he is currently serving for attacks on cash machines, a museum burglary and fraud. Sheen admitted stealing the toilet and Michael Jones was found guilty of burglary after a trial. The pair were previously convicted in a Trading Standards investigation of defrauding elderly people by charging them 'way over the odds' for poor roofing work, Mr Riddell said. Frederick Doe was convicted of conspiracy to transfer criminal property and was given a suspended sentence. Mr Riddell said the investigation following the toilet theft was 'complex', with hundreds of hours of CCTV footage reviewed, more than 2,000 statements recovered, mobile devices seized and 12 people arrested in total. Officers found images and voice notes on Sheen's phone allegedly showing the gains he had made from the theft, as well as traces of gold on gloves and a tracksuit. The case is to be reviewed by senior detectives, with Mr Riddell 'confident' they know at least two other alleged offenders but there is not yet enough evidence to charge them. There may also be a 'lot of people' involved in handling the gold who 'aren't fully aware that they are committing crime', the officer added.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- BBC News
Gold toilet: Two men jailed for £4.8m Blenheim Palace heist
Two men jailed for £4.8m gold toilet theft Two men have been jailed for the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet from from an art exhibition at Blenheim smashed their way in and ripped out the functional 18-carat, solid gold toilet, hours after a glamorous launch party at the Oxfordshire stately home in September 'Jimmy' Sheen, 40, pleaded guilty to burglary, transferring criminal property and conspiracy to do the same in 2024, while Michael Jones, 39, was found guilty of burglary in March. The men, from Oxford, were sentenced to four years and two-and-a-half years in prison, respectively.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- The Guardian
Man handed suspended sentence over role in Blenheim Palace £4.8m gold toilet heist
One of the gang members convicted over the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet from an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace has been handed a suspended sentence at Oxford crown court. Frederick Doe, 36, also known as Frederick Sines, from Windsor, had been convicted by a jury of conspiring to transfer criminal property. He was accused of offering to find a buyer for the gold and brokering the deal. Judge Ian Pringle KC sentenced Doe to 21 months' imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered him to do 240 hours of unpaid work. Doe was found guilty by a jury at the same court in March of conspiracy to transfer criminal property. He helped one of the men who pleaded guilty to carrying out the burglary, James Sheen, to sell some of the gold in the following weeks, the court heard. The judge said Doe had been of previous good character and accepted that the conspirators may have taken advantage of his good nature. Pringle said Doe was 'targeted' for his legitimate contacts in the Hatton Garden jewellery district. The 18-carat fully functioning lavatory, which weighed about 98kg, was stolen in September 2019 while it was featuring in an art exhibition and is believed to have been broken up and disposed of. None of the gold has been recovered. Two other men will be sentenced in June for their part in the heist. Michael Jones was found guilty of planning the burglary and James Sheen admitted stealing the toilet.
Sky News
19-05-2025
- Sky News
Man involved in theft of £4.75m gold toilet from Blenheim Palace sentenced
A man involved in the theft of a £4.75m gold toilet from the house where Sir Winston Churchill was born has been handed a suspended sentence. The fully functioning 18-carat gold artwork, titled America, was stolen from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire during the early hours of 14 September 2019. In March, Frederick Doe was found guilty of conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property. On Monday at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Ian Pringle KC sentenced Doe to 21 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered him to do 240 hours unpaid work. A court previously heard how Doe, also known as Frederick Sines, from Windsor in Berkshire, helped mastermind James Sheen sell some of the gold in the weeks after the theft. Sheen, from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, had earlier pleaded guilty to burglary. He also admitted conspiracy to transfer criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property at Oxford Crown Court in April 2024. Co-accused Michael Jones, from Oxford, had denied any wrongdoing, but was found guilty of burglary at the time of Doe's conviction. Both Sheen and Jones will be sentenced next month. During court proceedings, Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC said five men carried out the raid; however, only Jones and Sheen have been caught. 1:13 Sheen and his accomplices drove two stolen vehicles, a VW Golf and an Isuzu truck, through locked gates at Blenheim Palace shortly before 5am on the night of the raid. Thames Valley Police said three men armed with sledgehammers and a crowbar gained entry to the palace, smashed through the solid wooden door and tore the toilet from its fixings. The carefully planned raid was over within five minutes. The gold was believed to be worth about £2.8m at the time of the theft. However, the artwork, which weighed around 98kg, had been insured for the price of £4.75m. A couple of days after the burglary, Sheen contacted Doe about selling the gold. Through coded messages, the two men talked about "cars" and getting offered "26 and a half" - which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) argued referred to the men getting £26,500 per kilo of the stolen gold. Jones, who had visited the stately home twice in the days before the raid, was arrested on 16 October 2019 before officers analysed his phone. The force found he had searched for news reports about the stolen toilet on 20 September 2019. Meanwhile, Sheen's DNA was found both on a sledgehammer left at the scene and in the stolen Isuzu truck used in the raid. Tracksuit bottoms seized at his home had hundreds of gold fragments on them, which, when analysed, were indistinguishable from the gold from which the toilet was made. The sculpture, which was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was the star attraction of an exhibition at the country house before it was stolen. It could be used as a toilet by members of the public, with Jones telling the jury he took advantage of the artwork's "facilities" during a visit to Blenheim Palace the day before it was taken. Asked what it was like, he replied: "Splendid." None of the gold was ever recovered, with the CPS saying it is likely to have been "broken up or melted down and sold on soon after it was stolen". Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
