Police have named two Air Canada employees among suspects in the theft of $6.6 billion in gold from a cargo facility at Toronto airport a year ago, in what was called the largest gold theft ever. in Canada.
Police in the Toronto suburb of Peel Region have identified nine men they believe were involved in the crime. They have already been able to arrest five and have issued nationwide arrest warrants for the other three. The ninth person, the alleged driver of a five-ton truck who took the gold and banknotes, is in US custody on firearms trafficking charges, according to a police detective.
One of Air Canada's employees, a 54-year-old man named Parmpal Sidhu, has been arrested and charged with theft of more than C$5,000 ($3,620) and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Police have said they are still searching for Simran Preet Panesar, 31, who no longer works at the Montreal-based Canadian company but was working there at the time of the incident.
The heist, which agents humorously described as a "Netflix series," began when a Swiss bank and a precious metals refining company hired Brink's Co. to move valuables from Zurich to Toronto. The shipment included 6,600 gold bars weighing more than 800 pounds — worth about $14 million at the time, police have said — plus about $2.5 million Canadian in foreign currency.
Brink's arranged for Air Canada to transport the goods to Canada, and the plane landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport on the afternoon of April 17, 2023, one year ago today. The bars and bills were then transported to a company cargo warehouse where, around 6:30 p.m., a driver appeared with a white truck and a fraudulent document in his hand to claim the shipment.
That document, the police have noted, was a duplicate of an air waybill for a shipment of seafood that had been picked up the previous day. That roadmap was apparently printed at Air Canada facilities.
Soon, a forklift loaded the gold and money onto the truck. When Brink's employees showed up three hours later to pick him up, they were told he was missing.
"They needed people within Air Canada to facilitate this theft," Detective Sergeant Mavity explained in a press conference. In fact, to "assist" Peel Regional Police, one of the two employees who are now suspects led a tour of the facilities "before we knew of their involvement," the detective added last Wednesday at the hearing.
The alleged driver of the truck, 25-year-old Durante King-Mclean, was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police in early September. He fled on foot and was captured, and state police found 65 firearms in his vehicle that were allegedly destined for Canada. Police now believe the stolen gold may have played a role in firearms trafficking.
King-Mclean and three other people have been charged in a US federal indictment, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The charges stem from a conspiracy to engage in international firearms trafficking.
Of the two Air Canada employees allegedly involved, one left the company before the arrests were announced Wednesday and the other was suspended, airline spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said. "We thank the police for their diligent efforts in investigating this matter," he said, declining to comment further.
In October, Brink's sued Air Canada, accusing the country's largest airline of "negligence and carelessness." Air Canada rejected the allegations.
Virtually none of the loot has been recovered, although police confiscated around C$430,000 and six gold bracelets worth around C$89,000, as well as casting vessels and moulds. Mavity said investigators believe the gold was melted down and reconstituted so it could be resold.
