Thief pillages flight via toilet

An ingenious thief has swiped almost a quarter million dollars on a flight in the Caribbean after sneaking into the cash-laden cargo hold via the toilet, police say.

A Brink's security employee placed three sacks of cash containing a total 1.2 million euro in the hold of the Air Antilles plane before it headed from the French island of Guadeloupe to the Franco-Dutch island of Saint Martin.

The security guard took his seat on the ATR-42 turboprop plane but when the flight landed 40 minutes later it was discovered that 172,000 euro ($236,000) were missing from the sacks.

Police are seeking a man who complained he felt ill and spent most of the journey in the toilet. In fact, he was removing panels to gain access to the hold in the rear of the plane.

Shortly before landing, the unnamed man - who was travelling with a woman who appeared concerned about his health - asked a hostess for an ambulance to meet him on the tarmac, witnesses said.

When the ambulance arrived, the man said he suddently felt better and walked out of the airport without having to go through the normal security checks and disappeared, police said.

Cleaners who found bundles of notes in the toilet raised the alarm. The woman travelling with him was questioned in the baggage arrival hall but did not have any of the missing money.

How you'll lose $790,000
Sydney Morning Herald October 21, 2004 - 1:38PM

The average Australian stands to lose up to 22 times their median annual income over the course of their life through bad financial management, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission said today.

Speaking at the launch of ASIC's financial management guide Your Money in Sydney, Commonwealth Financial Literacy taskforce chairman Paul Clitheroe said average income earners were wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars through bad decisions.

"Taskforce research modelled the effects of bad financial decision making," Mr Clitheroe said.

"(It) discovered that a person on a salary of $36,000 per annum stands to lose $790,000 in lost wealth over the course of their lifetime."

These included ill-informed investment, superannuation and mortgage choices, misuse of credit cards and bad management of debt, ASIC chairman Jeffrey Lucy said.

"Average income earners can potentially save thousands of dollars by the time they retire," Mr Lucy said.

"To avoid lost opportunities it's crucial for everyone, especially those not on high incomes to get the most out of their money and to plan for the future."

Australian Consumers Association chief executive Peter Kell said financial awareness was important for any income bracket.

"Anyone can start now, no matter how little money they have...to make a real difference to their finances," he said.

Your Money details a range of financial strategies and issues, including investment, insurance, superannuation and managing mortgages and debt.

It can be found online at http://www.fido.asic.gov.au.