Coles Parkmore baby formula thief sold stolen cans to daigou to feed gambling addiction
A trusted worker at a Keysborough Coles stole hundreds of tins of baby formula and sold them to eager Chinese shoppers to feed his raging gambling addiction, with his elaborate, brazen methods of hiding and removing the haul revealed in court.
South East
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A supermarket worker stole hundreds of tins of precious baby formula to feed his raging gambling addiction.
Aries Kim, who worked at Parkmore Coles, would secrete cans of the ‘white gold’ product in hidey holes in the warehouse.
He would then repeatedly come back to the Keysborough store when off-duty, dressed in his Coles uniform, and walk out with two bags laden with the stuff.
The 21-year-old from Springvale would sell the formula to eager “daigou” — shoppers who make a profit selling in-demand product in China — for cash to blow on roulette wheels at Crown casino.
Kim was nabbed after suspicious managers set up a sting, capturing him removing cans from cartons, storing them in the warehouse and then taking them home.
He also stole two cars in two elaborate online scams, and the learner driver was also caught behind the wheel without a supervisor and with no L-plates in an unregistered car with fake number plates.
Kim pleaded guilty to seven theft and driving charges at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on October 15.
The court heard Coles’ bosses noticed something was amiss after a report of suspicious activity on March 14 this year.
An inspection of the warehouse uncovered several opened cartons of baby formula with tins missing, with the cans found in strange places like roof cavities and behind other products.
A hidden surveillance camera was set up and over the next few days it filmed Kim filling his bags with cans and then leaving.
On several occasions he went into work dressed in his Coles uniform while not rostered on and took bags full of formula before getting on the bus or catching an Uber to go home.
Other times he drove his car there, and loaded it up with stolen products.
Cops then watched his home as he sold the stolen tins to people who came to his house.
An audit by Coles revealed approximately 1766 cans had been stolen from that store, with a value of $36,567 — well above an average store loss of around 30-60 tins.
Kim was only charged with stealing 300-500 cans, worth between $7520 and $15,000, between February 1 and March 26 this year.
The thief or thieves who took the remaining hundreds of tins are unknown.
In court his defence lawyer accepted the thefts were sophisticated and elaborate, and were committed to fund a growing gambling problem.
She said Kim, who was just 20 years old at the time of the offending, kept on stealing more and more “as he kept on getting away with it” and the “losses just snowballed” until he was caught.
She said he had lost the money, his Coles job and earned the disapproval of his mother, and was remorseful.
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Magistrate Jack Vandersteen said it was a very serious breach of trust.
“There was a degree of foresight here, you thought about what was happening, you knew it was wrong,” Mr Vandersteen said.
“It had a level of sophistication, it was protracted, planned, and a large quantum of product was taken.
“But it led to nothing, you lost your job and had to tell family and friends.”
Kim was given an 18-month community corrections order and has to do 250 hours of unpaid work.
He was also banned for driving for six months and has to pay $7500 to Coles.
Mr Vandersteen said Kim’s lack of priors, co-operation with police, acceptance of responsibility and remorse saved him from jail, otherwise he would have been imprisoned for six months.