2 Punjab-origin men among 9 facing charges in Toronto airport gold heist
Police said nine people are facing charges in what authorities are calling the biggest gold theft in Canadian history from Toronto’s Pearson International airport a year ago.
Peel Regional Police said Wednesday that 6,600 gold bars worth more than 20 million Canadian dollars ($14.5 million) and CA$2.5 million ($1.8 million) was stolen and the gold was melted down and used to purchase illegal firearms. Those charged include an Air Canada warehouse employee and a former Air Canada manager who gave police a tour of cargo of the facility after the theft. A jewellery store owner is also charged.
Air Canada employee Parmpal Sidhu, 54, from Brampton, Ontario, jewellery store owner Ali Raza, 37, from Toronto, Amit Jalota, 40, a Oakville, Ontario resident, Ammad Chaudhary, 43, from Georgetown, Ontario and Prasath Paramalingam, 35, from Brampton are among those that have been arrested. Peel regional detective Sgt Mike Mavity said they have been released on bail conditions and will be in court at a later date.
Mavity said the truck driver that allegedly picked up the gold, Durante King-Mclean, a 25-yearold from Brampton, is currently in custody in the U.S. on firearms and trafficking related charges.
Police are searching for former Air Canada manager Simran Preet Panesar, 31, from Brampton as well as Archit Grover, 36, from Brampton and Arsalan Chaudhary, 42, from Mississauga Ontario.
“This story is a sensational one and which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,” Peel regional chief Nishan Duraiappah said.
Mavity said the gold bars, weighing 419 kilograms (923 pounds), and foreign currency, ordered from a refinery in Zurich, Switzerland, were transported in the haul of an Air Canada flight on April 17 last year.
He said that late afternoon a truck driver arrived at the airline’s cargo warehouse with a fraudulent bill that was provided to an airline warehouse attendant.
Mavity said a bill for seafood that was picked up the day before was used to pick up the gold. The duplicate bill was printed off at the Air Canada warehouse, he said.
“They needed people within Air Canada to facilitate this theft,” Mavity said in front of the truck police say was used in the theft.
Mavity said police are searching for the Air Canada manager Panesar who gave police a tour of the facility in the days after the theft. He said that manager left his job last summer and said they have an idea of where he is..