Nine men – including two Air Canada employees – are facing charges for allegedly stealing $14.5 million in gold during a “sensational” heist worthy of a “Netflix series” at a Canadian airport.
Peel Regional Police announced the arrests of five men and warrants for four others Wednesday on the one-year anniversary of the incident at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
A huge amount of loot was stolen from a shipping container at the airport in what is believed to be the largest gold heist in Canadian history.
“This story is sensational and one that, we joke, probably belongs in a Netflix series,” Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said at a press conference, according to City News Toronto.
Two of the nine suspects – Simran Preet Panesar, 31, and Parmpal Sidhu, 54 – worked for Air Canada.
Panesar even gave police a tour of the premises before they knew he was involved in the alleged robbery, police said, according to CP 24.
The other seven are: Durante King-Mclean, 25, Prasath Paramalingam, 34, Archit Grover, 36, Arsalan Chaudhary, 42, all four from Brampton; Amit Jalota, 40, of Oakville, Ammad Chaudhary, 43, of Georgetown, and Ali Raza, 37, of Toronto, according to the local media.
Grover, Arsalan Chaudhary, Panesar and King-Mclean, currently detained in the United States, are still wanted by Canadian police.
They collectively face 19 charges, according to City News Toronto.
The nine men allegedly stole more than $20 million Canadian dollars, or about $14.5 million U.S. dollars, in gold, as well as more than $2 million in foreign bank notes after King-Mclean drove a truck into the warehouse after giving a man a duplicate waybill.
The waybill had been reprinted on an Air Canada printer and indicated that King-Mclean would pick up a shipment of seafood that had actually been picked up the day before, according to the New York Times.
He then allegedly loaded the cargo of 6,600 gold bars and bank notes – which arrived from Switzerland on an Air Canada flight on April 17, 2023 – onto the truck two hours after arriving at the airport, according to the Times.
“They needed people within Air Canada to facilitate this flight,” Detective Mike Mavity said at a news conference.
A Brink’s truck arrived shortly thereafter to collect the shipment with the actual waybill. The company filed a lawsuit against Air Canada, alleging a thief used falsified documents to gain entry to the detention facility.
Air Canada denied allegations that its employees did not properly review the document and claimed that it did not have insurance for the valuable cargo, according to City News Toronto.
Most of the stolen gold had been melted down and police recovered only a fraction: six bracelets worth CA$89,000, or US$65,000, according to the Times.
Approximately $434,000 CAD, or approximately $315,100 USD, was also seized during the investigation, which appears to be part of the profits they made from the metal, according to CP 24.
Police showed two handwritten lists of payments to the men involved in the robbery.
Chief Duraiappah believes the gold was used, in part, to buy guns and smuggle them into Canada, which is why King-Mclean was arrested outside the country.
The 25-year-old is currently in U.S. custody after being arrested in September in Pennsylvania for alleged motor vehicle offenses, but remains wanted in Canada on theft-related charges.
Sixty-five firearms were found in his rental vehicle and are believed to be destined for Canada. Eleven of the weapons were stolen and two were fully automatic, according to City News Toronto.
King-Mclean and Paramalingam face conspiracy to engage in international firearms trafficking charges in the United States.
U.S. authorities believe Paramalingam orchestrated his accomplice’s illegal entry into the United States and provided him with funds to purchase the firearms in Florida, Georgia and elsewhere, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Grover and Jalisa Edwards, 25, of Fort Lauderdale, were indicted in the United States for complicity in King-Mclean’s crimes. Edwards is not wanted in Canada.
New York Post
