Fun on Friday: That Moment the “Good Guys” Turn Into the “Bad Guys”

Everybody wants gold. Some people want it so bad that they’re willing to break the law to get it. That’s why we have police. They stop the bad guys.

At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. But don’t miss what I said. Everybody wants gold. Police officers fall into the category of “everybody.” So, it should come as no surprise that every once in a while, you run into a cop willing to break the law to get his hands on some sparkling yellow metal.

This, in fact, happened recently in India.

According to news reports, two Guwahati police officials absconded (That’s the word the report used — I love that word.) with 60 gold bars worth about 30 million rupees. That’s $423,000 for all of you who only know Murkin’ money. According to the police commissioner, the rogue cops seized the gold bars from a pair of gold smugglers, who themselves stole the yellow metal.

So, far so, good, right? Good guys take gold from bad guys. That’s how this is supposed to go down.

But then things went off the rails. As it turns out, being a good guy doesn’t pay as well as being a bad guy. So the cops engaged in a little economic self-interest and disappeared with the contraband.

This put the bad guys in an awkward position. Suddenly, the criminals found themselves playing the role of crime victims. As it turns out, being a crime victim is costly and unpleasant. So, our smugglers did what any crime victim would do. They called the cops.

Now, I’m not sure if that’s the approach I would take. I mean, I get it. Somebody broke into my car once and I was enraged. Not only is there the financial cost involved, you just feel violated. But still, I’m not so sure I would go to the cops and say, “Hey, I’m a victim here. Somebody stole my gold. Yeah. My gold. Can you believe that crap? Well, it wasn’t mine, exactly. I stole it. But hey, I’m a victim here!”

Now, this surprised me. And by surprised, I mean this is exactly what I would expect to happen. “A case has also been registered against the smugglers.” You admit you stole gold and you get arrested. Who saw that one coming?

Meanwhile, the rogue cops are nowhere to be found.

“We have recorded a statement of the smugglers before the court, when the officers in question got to know about it they ran away,” police commissioner Deepak Kumar said.

On a side-note, check out Kumar’s photo. He looks exhausted. Or maybe it’s just an expression of sad resignation. He’s probably thinking, “This job sucks. The guys with the gold were the smart ones.”

Anyway, I bet the bad-guy cops never imagined that the actual bad-guys would turn them in. They figured they could continue being good buys – except with much fatter bank accounts.

Guess not.

The moral of the story? Don’t steal stuff.

Yes. Everybody wants gold. But if you try to steal it, you’re going to get “a case registered against you.” That’s never a good thing.

So, if you want gold, call SchiffGold at 1-888-GOLD-160. Our precious metals specialist will hook you up and you don’t have to worry about getting thrown in the pokey.

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. We dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Click here to read other posts in this series.

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