iNDICA NEW BUREAU–
Two Indian-origin men are among six arrested for Canada’s largest gold heist at Toronto airport. The robbery took place on April 17, 2023 and involved the theft of 6,600 gold bars of .9999% pure gold valued at over CA$22 million (US$16 million) and foreign currency amounting to about CA$2.5 million (US$ 1.8 million) from an Air Canada storage depot at Pearson International Airport.
Peel Regional Police authorities said Brampton resident and Air Canada employee Parmpal Sidhu, 54, is among those arrested. Another Indo-Canadian, Amit Jalota, 40, from Oakville near Toronto was also arrested. The other three men arrested were Ammad Chaudhary, 43, of Georgetown near Brampton; Ali Raza, 37, of Toronto; and Prasath Paramalingam, 35, from Brampton.
A sixth person was arrested by the Philadelphia Field Division of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). He allegedly had 65 illegal firearms in his possession, two of which had been modified to have fully automatic capabilities. Five of the 65 handguns are known as ‘ghost guns,’ meaning that they were not serialized and, therefore, are untraceable.
The arrests were announced after a long-year investigation under Project 24Karat.
The police also issued Canada-wide warrants for Simran Preet Panesar, 31, from Brampton, who was an Air Canada employee at the time of the theft; Archit Grover, 36, from Brampton and Arsalan Chaudhary, a 42-year-old man from Mississauga.
The 6,600 gold bars weighing more than 400 kg and the currency were flown from Zurich to Toronto on April 17, 2023, by two Swiss banks Raiffeisen and Valcambi for transactions. The Swiss banks had hired Miami-based security company Brink’s for the security and supervision of the transfer of the shipments to Toronto.
Brought to Toronto from Zurich in two cargo shipments with the words BANKNOTES and GOLDBARS written on them, these were deposited at the Air Canada storage depot at Toronto airport.
Three hours later, an unidentified individual produced fake copies of the waybill — papers which document the shipments and what it contains — to the Air Canada security personnel to claim the two shipments.
“A short time later, a forklift arrived with a container of gold and foreign currency and loaded it into the rear of the suspect’s truck,” police said. At about 9.30 p.m. the same day when Brink’s employees in Canada went to the Air Canada cargo depot to pick up the shipments, it was already gone.
Brink’s is suing Air Canada for handling the cargo “negligently and carelessly”. Brink’s says, “Upon receipt of the fraudulent waybill, AC personnel released the shipments to the unidentified individual, following which the unidentified individual absconded with the cargo.”
Nishan Duraiappah, Peel Regional Police Chief, said, “Our investigators and entire service recognized the heightened interest and impact this incident had in our community. We immediately deployed the necessary resources to address and ensure arrests are made in this complex and multi-faceted investigation that crossed international borders. I commend the incredible work done by our investigators, the ATF, other law enforcement partners, and our community for working together to identify and arrest those responsible for this brazen crime.”
