Authorities in Sydney have made significant progress in a case that captured national attention—the recovery of over 40,000 limited edition Bluey coins, stolen earlier this year from a Sydney warehouse. The gold coins, created by the Royal Australian Mint, feature beloved characters from the ABC kids’ show Bluey and were set to be released in September. Valued at over A$600,000 (NZ$671,140), the 63,000 Bluey-themed coins were designed to look like the show’s fictional “dollarbucks.”
Police have arrested a third suspect, Christina Vale, 27, who allegedly acted as the getaway driver. Vale was detained on Tuesday at her Green Valley residence and faces several serious charges, including aggravated break and enter and property theft. She appeared in court and was denied bail until her next hearing on 28 November.
The investigation, named Strike Force Bandit—after Bluey’s dad—led detectives to uncover 40,000 of the stolen coins at a storage unit in Wentworthville, Sydney. The discovery followed the previous arrests of Steven John Neilson, 47, an alleged former employee at the warehouse, and Nassar Kanj, 44, who were apprehended in August and remain in custody.
Interestingly, some of the stolen coins have made their way into general circulation, surprising collectors with the rare, commemorative dollar coins. When Neilson was arrested, police found 189 of these coins, some of which had also ended up in an unsuspecting coin collector’s stash.
That is so cool!!!