A Dapto woman has faced court accused of pawning rare coins that were part of a collection of historical artefacts, including irreplaceable war relics, stolen from a Mt St Thomas property on Monday.
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Police allege Lisa Maree Otero sold two limited edition coin sets produced by the Royal Australian Mint and two individual 50 cent pieces commemorating Federation at the Wollongong Cash Exchange pawnbrokers on Tuesday afternoon, 24 hours after they were reported missing from the Hill Street home.
Court documents said an unknown person/s broke into the house sometime between 9am and 3pm on Monday and stole dozens of rare and valuable artefacts as well as objects of sentimental value to the owners.
Otero is not accused of carrying out the break and enter and has not been charged with any such offence.
However, it is alleged she came to be in possession of some of the stolen coins by Tuesday afternoon.
The court heard she falsely signed a declaration at the pawnbroker’s stating she was the rightful owner of the items.
It is unknown what payment she received for them, however police said they were subsequently discovered to have been stolen and have been returned.
Otero was arrested just before 6pm on Wednesday, with police allegedly finding her in possession of a rare 1919 Australian penny at the time.
She was taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station and charged with dealing in proceeds of crime, having suspected stolen goods in custody and making a false declaration to a licensed pawnbroker.
In an interview with police, Otero admitted pawning the items at the cash exchange but claimed she had found them in a bag next to a St Vincent De Paul charity bin on Sunday night – the day before they went missing.
Otero applied for bail in Wollongong Local Court on Thursday, with defence lawyer Matt Russoniello saying she would agree to abide by any conditions imposed by the court in order to secure her release.
However, Magistrate Michael Stoddart refused bail on account of the strength of the prosecution case and the high likelihood of Otero receiving a full time jail sentence if she was ultimately convicted of the charges.
“She has a history of matters of dishonesty,” he said.
A full list of the stolen items:
*Male titanium wedding ring
*Silver engagement ring (thin band)
*WWII dog tags – V.P.O – Vincent Patrick O’Sullivan
*WWII kangaroo leather issue wallet and documented pay slip book - has initials V.P.O bottom corner, front of wallet
*silver stud earrings
*100 year collection of Anzac Medals box set
*1988 Parliament House uncirculated five dollar coin set
*Australia’s first Victoria Cross year 2000 one dollar uncirculated set
*2017 coin set of 8 Possum Magic coins $1 and $2 uncirculated
*Australian nugget- gold 99.99 per cent gold cased proof coin 1998
*One dollar 1996 Sir Donald Bradman cased proof
*One dollar commemorative issues all cased uncirculated -
-1995 Waltzing Matilda
-1999 The Last Anzac
-1999 Int Year of the older persons
-1997 Charles Kingsford Smith (A)
-1997 Charles Kingsford Smith (B)
-1988 Australia’s Bicentenary
-1992 Barcelona Olympics
-2000 HMAS Sydney 11
*Fifty cents commemorative issues uncirculated
-1970 Bicentenary - Captain Cook
-1977 Silver jubilee- Queen Elizabeth 11
-1981 Royal wedding
-1991 25th anniversary of decimal currency
-1994 Year of the Family
-1995 End of WWII 50th anniversary
-1998 Bass and Flinders anniversary
-2000 millennium year
-2000 royal visit 2000
Phone Wollongong police on 4226 7899 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 with any information.
