Three men and two women have been charged over the theft of up to 250 tons of salmon valued at more than $4 million from a processing plant in Ingleburn.
It is alleged the syndicate used their roles within the Huon Aquaculture plant to falsely grade premium salmon products as waste, which was then removed from the plant and transported for on-sale or traded for other product.
In total, more than 250 tons of salmon were allegedly stolen between June and December 2020, which would have an estimated retail value of more than $4 million.
The company has terminated the employment of all five people.
In December 2020, police were contacted by the executive of a salmon farming and processing company in relation to possible coordinated criminal conduct of employees.
Detectives from Campbelltown City Police Area Command were told the company had conducted an internal audit, which revealed a significant reduction in the output of product through their processing plant at Ingleburn.
It was determined that on average, about 600kg of salmon product was unaccounted for each day.
As part of inquiries, detectives attended the Ingleburn plant just after midday on Sunday, December 20 and spoke with employees at the completion of their shift.
Two female employees, aged 30 and 31, were charged with larceny and are due to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on February 22.
Following further investigation, detectives attended the plant three days later and arrested two men aged 32 and 49.
They were taken to Campbelltown Police Station where a 32-year-old Minto man was charged with stealing property.
A 49-year-old Cabramatta man was also charged with stealing property.
Both men were granted strict conditional bail and are due to appear at Campbelltown Local Court today (Monday, January 18).
Detectives arrested a third man following his arrival into Sydney Airport from Perth, on December 23.
The 30-year-old Belmore man was taken to Mascot Police Station, where he was charged with stealing property.
He was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on February 1.
- Campbelltown detective Graeme Napier will address the media on the case at 1pm today outside Campbelltown Police Station.
