The Royal Canadian Mint is under increasing strain, officialls refusing to rule out thievery to explain a significant quantity of unaccounted for gold.

Worker at the Royal Canadian Mint inspects a freshly stamped Loonie. Perhaps several million dollars worth of gold, and precious metals remain unaccounted for at the mints Ottawa HQ. Photograph by:Fred Greenslade Reuters.

 Ottawa: The Royal Canadian Mint ,with it’s world class reputation is under increasing strain these days,to explain a significant quantity of unaccounted for gold ,and mint officials refusing to rule out thievery.

The mint this week revealed that external auditors have been working since early March to determine whether theft or an accounting error is behind an “unreconciled difference” between the mint’s 2008 financial records and its physical stockpile of gold and other precious metals at its downtown Ottawa headquarters, about one kilometre from the prime minister’s residence on Sussex Drive.

Read the full story. By Ian MacLeod, Ottawa Citizen. 

OTTAWA — The world-class reputation of the Royal Canadian Mint is under increasing strain, with mint officials refusing to rule out thievery to explain a significant quantity of unaccounted-for gold.

The mint this week revealed that external auditors have been working since early March to determine whether theft or an accounting error is behind an “unreconciled difference” between the mint’s 2008 financial records and its physical stockpile of gold and other precious metals at its downtown Ottawa headquarters, about one kilometre from the prime minister’s residence on Sussex Drive.

Insiders say the unexplained difference could amount to as much as several million dollars.

The government and mint CEO Ian Bennett have promised to make the auditors’ findings public within two weeks. Police have not been asked to investigate.

In the meantime, the commercial Crown corporation is saying little beyond noting there was a 352 per cent increase in production of its Gold Maple Leaf coins last year.

“Doing business with the mint is still safe,” said Christine Aquino, mint spokeswoman.

Notably absent, however, is any expression of optimism the affair will turn out to be a case of sloppy bookkeeping or another accounting mix-up.

Asked this week to acknowledge the mint is fairly confident the unaccounted for gold has not been stolen, Aquino replied: “We really want to wait for the review before we make any conclusions. We don’t want to come to any conclusion until then.”

She declined to answer the same question again Friday, saying in a statement: “We’ll be making further comments once the review is completed and we release the results publicly.”

It’s too early to know what, if any, fallout the affair might have on the mint’s thriving international coinage business line.

As one of the most innovative and technologically advanced mints in the world, its Winnipeg plant last year produced almost two billion circulating coins for 16 nations, including Papua New Guinea, Fuji, Paraguay, Oman, Panama, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines.

In all, 65 countries have called on the mint to make their coinage over the years.

Opposition MPs say to maintain international confidence, and if the auditors’ preliminary findings are leaning toward an accounting error over a criminal act, the government and the mint must move quickly and not wait for the auditors’ final report later this month.

“If it’s just a question of shoddy accounting, then he can’t wait a month for this to happen. He’s got to be able to clear the air for Canadians and those other countries that are our clients,” said Liberal MP Joe Volpe, referring to Minister of State for Transport Rob Merrifield, responsible for the mint.

“Whether there’s two, or whether or three or seven or more zeros behind the (unreconciled) amount, it all translates into the word ’significant’ and that translates to loss of credibility. This has got to be dealt with today; it can’t wait. We’re talking about the national mint.”

Opposition MPs raised the issue in the Commons again Friday.

“We do take this issue very seriously,” responded Brian Jean, parliamentary secretary to Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities John Baird.

“We want to assure all Canadians that an external audit is being done and once that is done, we will make the findings in the result of that public.”

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

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