A court in China’s Hunan province has sentenced six individuals, including four company employees, for stealing eggs worth more than 4 million yuan (approximately RM2.6 million) from their employer over a period of nearly three years.
The case involved employees of Hunan Xiangjia Animal Husbandry Co Ltd, where four warehouse workers allegedly collaborated with outside accomplices to systematically siphon off company stock between January 2021 and September 2024.
According to court findings, the four employees — identified by their surnames Wu, Jin, Chen and Tang — worked as custodians at a non-breeding egg storage facility and exploited their positions to facilitate the thefts.
Investigators found that two egg buyers, surnamed Yao and Wang, conspired with the employees to illegally obtain eggs from the company through a series of fraudulent methods.
The group allegedly manipulated warehouse records, falsified inventory data, inflated dispatch quantities and underreported stock movements to conceal the thefts.
Through the scheme, more than 4 million yuan worth of eggs were removed from the company without authorisation.
Authorities revealed that the six defendants personally profited from the operation, with illegal gains ranging from more than 110,000 yuan to as much as 3.88 million yuan.
The court ruled that all six individuals were guilty of occupational embezzlement and handed down prison sentences ranging from nine months to four years and nine months.
In addition to imprisonment, the defendants were also fined between 100,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan.
Local media reported that the fraud continued undetected for several years before the company uncovered irregularities and reported the matter to police.
A representative from Xiangjia confirmed that the company immediately contacted authorities after discovering the thefts and said all employees involved had since left the organisation.
The company added that despite the prolonged duration of the scheme, the incident did not have a significant impact on its overall operations.
The unusual case has attracted widespread attention online, with many social media users expressing disbelief that millions of yuan worth of eggs could be stolen over such an extended period without being detected.
