| Genre: | Crime Drama |
| Director: | John Power |
| Executive Producer: | Michael Thornhill |
| Producer: | Barbara Gibbs |
| Based On: | Perth Mint Swindle |
| Starring: | John Hargreaves Tony Rickards Robert Hughes Chris Haywood |
| Music: | John Stuart |
| Cinematography: | David Sanderson |
| Editor: | Sara Bennett |
| Company: | Indian Pacific Films |
| Runtime: | 96 mins |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $750,000 |
The Great Gold Swindle is a 1984 Australian TV movie based on the Perth Mint Swindle. It was shot on location in Perth.[1] As far as is known, the gold bullion was never recovered - which would have increased in value to well over $1 million by 1987.During the four-week trial the Mickelberg brothers were cross-examined in the witness box for days on end.[2]
The film is a fictional recreation of a crime which resulted in the defrauding of the Perth Mint of gold bullion then worth $650,000 in June 1982. The film depicts the brothers Mickelberg as culprits in the theft of 49 gold bars from the mint in Perth, Western Australia and their subsequent arrest and questioning.
The Mickelberg brothers, two abalone divers (one of them an ex-SAS commando) and a helicopter pilot enter into a conspiracy to induce the Mint to hand over three lots of bullion in return for falsified building society cheques.
Throughout the planning and execution of the swindle, the men behind it remain almost entirely hidden. Largely operating by telephone and letter, they use a series of dupes and temporary employees to carry out their operation.
Their detection comes about through flaws in their operation: proffering building society cheques with near-sequential serial numbers on different dates, the use of a false name already known to police, coupled with fingerprints left on the false cheques.
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The Australian Film and Television Companion called The Great Gold Swindle a "well made reconstruction ... A strong cast make it believable."[3]
A DVD transfer of the film was released in Australia by Flashback Entertainment (cat. 10537).