SAMS Group Australia
advertisement
SAMS Group Australia
advertisement
SAMS Group Australia
advertisement
Goto your account
Search Stories by: 
and/or
 

News












A man who was involved in an alleged plot to fake a luxury jewellery store robbery in Sydney has been jailed. | Source: The Advertiser/Daily Telegraph
A man who was involved in an alleged plot to fake a luxury jewellery store robbery in Sydney has been jailed. | Source: The Advertiser/Daily Telegraph

Jail time following controversial Sydney jewellery store robbery

A man who was involved in an alleged plot to fake a luxury jewellery store robbery in Sydney has been jailed.

Shanel Tofaeono, 39, is one of only six people who has pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme involving the Germani Jewellery store in Sydney in January 2022. He was sentenced to a maximum of four years and seven months in prison.

During the robbery, men posing as customers threatened a staff member with a knife while demanding access to the safe.

The men allegedly bound the hands and feet of staff members with cable ties before leaving the store with an expensive collection of jewellery.

Judge John Pickering discounted Tofaeono’s sentence due to his early plea to one count of detaining a person in company to commit a serious indictable offence and one count of attempting to dishonestly obtain a financial advantage by deception.

According to reporting by The Guardian, Judge Pickering said Tofaeono played an instrumental role in making the 11-minute robbery seem ‘real’ enough to fool investigators and said employees of the store suffered greatly.

“Some of the jewellery fell onto the floor as her hands were shaking so much due to fear,” he said.

“For her, for all intents and purposes, she was then involved in what was a very real robbery to her, one that must have been terrifying.”

The other five accused have each pleaded not guilty to a range of charges and will face a joint trial in May 2025. Authorities are yet to recover more than 160 items, valued at $2.8 million, that the jeweller reported to insurers as stolen.

More reading
Saga continues following Sydney jewellery store robbery
Sydney jeweller alleged to have orchestrated $2.8m heist
Sydney jeweller robbed in ‘brazen’ 3am raid
Jewellery retailers warned about elaborate crime spree
Harsher penalties for crimes against retail employees, jewellery store staff
Turning point: Sentence handed down for high-profile jewellery store robbery

 











Rapid Casting
advertisement





Read current issue

login to my account
Username: Password:
SAMS Group Australia
advertisement
Jeweller Magazine
advertisement
SAMS Group Australia
advertisement
© 2024 Befindan Media