A gold shop Photo: VCG

A gold shop employee managed to steal approximately 45.8 kg of gold jewelry, worth around 18.94 million yuan ($2.66 million), over three years by swapping the jewelry with lead blocks of equal weight, triggering heated discussions on Chinese social media.

According to the public security bureau in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the woman named Hu Hui (alias) served as a team leader. 

Once at the end of her shift, she forgot to return the gold jewelry to its original location. Realizing no one noticed, she was tempted to sell the items and continued the theft unnoticed.

Struggling with mounting debts and financial pressure, Hu's boyfriend encouraged her to continue the thefts. 

She took advantage of her position by frequently working overtime, becoming the last to leave the shop, which earned her a reputation among colleagues as highly responsible.

In April, the shop owner, surnamed Ma, conducted a business review and was shocked to find that several dozen kilograms of gold jewelry were missing. He subsequently reported the incident to local police.

Following an investigation, police identified Hu as the prime suspect. Hu then confessed that she and her boyfriend had replaced gold jewelry with lead blocks of equal weight to deceive the company during inventory checks. 

They repeatedly took gold items from the store, using the illicit proceeds to pay off debts and fund their lavish lifestyle.

Her boyfriend was responsible for purchasing the lead blocks and selling the stolen gold, according to police.

Police reported that Hu and her boyfriend used the stolen funds to purchase real estate, cars, pay off debts, invest in a store, and other personal expenses. 

Currently, police have recovered property valued at over 5 million yuan.

Many netizens were shocked that she managed to steal for such an extended period without being detected.

Global Times