By Jed Lanyon
The manager of a Healesville business has had a stroke of bad luck after his home was burgled just weeks after his workplace was targeted by thieves.
Shorelec store manager Rod Barratt said his partner came home on Monday 24 May to find the front gate and doors wide open. Upon entering the home it was clear it had been ransacked by thieves, who searched every cupboard, drawer and closet of the Healesville residence.
Earlier in May, burglars had jimmied open the doors of his electrical wholesale business to steal thousands of dollars worth of stock in a planned attack on the store.
And Mr Barratt revealed that two weeks prior to the store break-in, the business had been targeted and hacked online as infiltrators had access to payments and personal information.
It has left Mr Barratt and his staff fearing if the incidents are coincidental, or if he has been the target of multiple crimes.
“It seems more than a coincidence but I can only presume it is a coincidence that it happened to be my place that they got a hold of,” he said.
“Two weeks before we (Shorelec) were robbed, our computer systems were hacked. They got into our paypal accounts and credit cards. Whether that was from someone overseas or local, we don’t know.
“We were hacked four weeks ago, robbed two weeks ago and now a staff member has also been burgled. It seems more than random.”
Despite the break-ins, A Yarra Ranges CIU Sergeant told Star Mail it was likely that the incidents were of “pure coincidence” as there are no links between the two crimes, but that it would never be ruled out until the investigation concluded.
The Sergeant said the CIU were investigating a vehicle, seen on nearby CCTV, leaving the Shorelec premises and that it had been linked in relation to other crimes.
Mr Barratt said the thieves had climbed up and entered through a laundry window to break into his home. He said police came to search for fingerprints but it was clear the thieves wore gloves to conceal their identity.
“She (Mr Barratt’s girlfriend) lost all of her jewelry, a lot of sentimental jewelry. Not a fortune but it had a sentimental value,” he said. “I lost a couple of JBL Bluetooth boombox speakers… and a pocket watch that my mother had given to me engraved.”
Mr Barratt’s partner had perfumes stolen as well as pearls, which belonged to her mother.
