A 36-year-old man from Brampton has been charged in connection with last year's $24-million gold and cash heist from Toronto's Pearson airport, which was later revealed to be an inside job.
The heist, which occurred on April 17, 2023, involved the theft of 6,600 gold bars weighing over 400 kilograms with a value of more than $20 million. The gold and foreign currency were ordered from a refinery in Zurich, Switzerland, and were transported to Toronto on an Air Canada flight.
According to police, the stolen goods were offloaded and brought to an Air Canada cargo facility at the airport, where a man arrived driving a five-tonne truck and presented a fraudulent airway bill to warehouse employees. The employees loaded the shipment onto his truck, allowing the thief to make off with the valuable cargo.
An Air Canada employee, a 54-year-old man from Brampton, was among those charged in connection with the heist. A Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for a 31-year-old man from Brampton, who police say was a manager at Air Canada at the time of the theft.
A lawsuit filed against Air Canada has alleged that a thief presented a forged document to collect about $23.8 million in goods from a holding facility at Pearson. Air Canada has denied any improper conduct or responsibility for the theft.
Police have recovered one kilogram of gold believed to be from the theft, worth about $89,000, as well as smelting equipment and approximately $434,000 in currency. They claim their investigation also interrupted an attempt to import firearms to Canada from the United States.
A suspect accused of driving the truck with stolen gold from the airport was later allegedly caught with firearms and arrested in Pennsylvania. Police said that suspect was stopped by Pennsylvania State Police near Chambersburg in September 2023.
On Monday, investigators arrested suspect Archit Grover at Pearson airport as he flew in from India. He was charged with theft over $5,000, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. He was held for a bail hearing and is also being indicted in the U.S. for firearms-related charges.
Several other suspects are still being sought, including former Air Canada employee Simran Preet Panesar, 31, of Brampton, who is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.
A warrant has also been issued for Arsalan Chaudhary, 42, of no fixed address, who is wanted for theft over $5,000, two counts of possession of property obtained by crime, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Another suspect, Durante King-Mclean, 25, of Brampton, is also being sought on a warrant for theft over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.
