Being employed by a major automaker to work on the factory floor is a mixed bag, as far as jobs go. Performing the same job in the same place can be mind-numbingly boring…but on the same token, there is a certain pride to knowing that you helped build an amazing machine. Auto workers also get certain perks, like discounted prices on new cars and profit sharing.

Or for the more daring and dastardly, there are other benefits…like stealing millions of dollars in engines, transmissions, and other auto parts from your employer. Autoblog reports through News.com.au that Australian police agencies are investigating the theft of more than $2.5 million in engines and transmissions from a local Holden plant.

The plant, located in Elizabeth, Australia, apparently had no “effective” method for keeping tabs on engines and transmissions. The high-tech V8 motors, which should have gone into VE Commodores, could sell for upwards of $10,000 through Holden dealerships. However, on the black market these same brand-new motors were being sold for as little as $1,500. Investigators believe as many as 250 engines and/or transmissions were stolen from the planet.

For their part, the plant managers had no idea what was going on, and no doubt many buyers were in the dark too. Some of the stolen engines may have even wound up going to legit off-road racing organizations. The investigation only began after police discovered a stolen Holden engine in an unrelated investigation. Since January, South Australia police have been making inquiries and raids, trying to get to the bottom of the theft, though it seems a main culprit has not yet been apprehended.

It’s one thing to get an employee discount, and another thing to rob your own employer blind. So was this the work of a single disgruntled employee, or part of a larger conspiracy?