Ricky Munn: Wollongong man imprisoned for dealing with proceeds of $500k opal heist

The Wollongong man tasked with selling half a million dollars of stolen opals was sentenced to 19 months jail.

A 28-year-old man who was a key player in an attempt at wheeling and dealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of stolen opals was sentenced in Wollongong District Court on Monday.

Ricky Munn has been behind bars since May 11 of last year for playing “an integral, but subsidiary” role in trying to sell off around $500,000 worth of opals which were stolen in an armed robbery of an opal dealer in a home on the Princes Hwy in Albion Park Rail.

Judge Andrew Haesler sentenced Munn to two years and seven months imprisonment, down from three and a half years given his early guilty plea.

Ricky Munn was sentenced in Wollongong Courthouse on Monday.

The opals were originally stolen from the home in Albion Park Rail in the early hours of February 10, 2021, when four men, who the court heard were associates of Munn, broke into the property and stole more than 1000 stones at gunpoint.

Munn gained possession of some of the opals sometime in April of that year and was tasked with lining up potential buyers in Melbourne where he and a co-defendant targeted Jews and Asians because “they have got money”.

Munn also spoke with an opal expert in Melbourne who was interested in purchasing the gems, but “wouldn’t touch them for at least six months”.

Police also intercepted a range of messages between Munn and a co-defendant where he referred to the opals as “bike parts”, “clothes” and “shirts”.

On May 1, they also intercepted a message of Munn trying to offload some of the more valuable opals for 2kg of drugs.

Munn travelled to Melbourne where he stayed at a St Kilda hotel with the co-defendant and his partner and three children.

Victorian police were tipped off and arrested Munn and the co-defendant on the morning of May 11 where they found a collection of opals inside a backpack stashed away in an orange Holden Captiva.

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Business cards for opal dealers were also found in Munn’s wallet, however, when interviewed by police, he said he didn’t know who the other man was and hadn’t a clue about the stolen opals.

Munn, however, backtracked on that position when in court in December last year when he pleaded guilty to dealing with the proceeds of crime after prosecutors withdrew a more serious charge of specially aggravated break and enter, given it was not established that Munn was involved in the Albion Park Rail holdup.

Munn’s girlfriend, Bonny Gowty, appeared via video link from Melbourne where she told the court she would be able to accommodate him when he was released from prison and said she would support him in his endeavours of becoming socially rehabilitated.

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As Munn sat in front of a webcam in a small room in the South Coast Correctional Centre, Judge Haesler told the court the maximum penalty for this “serious” crime was 15 years behind bars.

“Jewellery robbery has no point unless they’re disposed of for cash,” he said.

“There is no evidence Munn was involved in the robbery. He did, however, play an integral, but subsidiary role. He was guessing at the time, but a sum of $300,000 was mentioned at some stage, this indicates deliberate engagement in criminal activity.

“Munn is not a first offender. He has been a regular before the courts with offences from Victoria, Queensland, NSW and South Australia. Primarily the offending seems to be damage to property, he says he is a graffiti artist and not a tagger, but he’s shown little regard for other people’s property.

“He has been in jail many times and he’s told the court he’s not getting any younger and he sees himself at a crossroads in his life.”

Munn has a non-parole period of one year and seven months, meaning he will be eligible for parole on December 11, 2022.

A condition of his parole is he must not leave NSW, however, Judge Haesler indicated arrangements will need to be made with Community Corrections Management about him returning to Melbourne to stay with Ms Gowty.