An Australian mother has been jailed for playing a pivotal role in a large baby formula shoplifting export ring.
Lie Ke, from Sydney, made hundreds of thousands of dollars from the operation which took place over 15 months between Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle in 2018.
"Suppliers" would steal the baby formula from supermarkets and chemists before Ke and her partner would buy them and on-sell to Chinese buyers for hugely inflated prices, 7News reported. There's believed to be mistrust in Chinese baby products after the melamine scandal in 2008 where six babies died from tainted formula, creating demand from other countries.
It's understood Ke was selling the formula for more than $85 after buying it for between AU$17 and $26.
"[She's] making the transactions in secluded areas, initiated by her," Judge Siobhan Herbert said in the Parramatta District Court on Wednesday.
"She's clearly controlling the money."
But defence lawyers for Ke argued she didn't know the goods were stolen, 7News reported.
Investigators found $643,000 was deposited into her bank accounts and police seized 4000 cans of the formula from her home.
The 50-year-old was sentenced to two years, three months in jail with a non-parole period of 18 months.
As she was put in handcuffs after sentencing, Ke started shaking and sobbing, Channel 7 reported.
Her partner Yueqi has been placed on an intensive corrections order for one year and four months for his role in the scam.
