An Indian-origin man has been arrested in Canada in connection with a multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport, almost a month after the arrest of five others involved in the biggest theft in the country’s history.
On April 17, 2023, an air cargo container carrying more than 22 million Canadian dollars worth of gold bars and foreign currency was stolen from a secure storage facility using fake paperwork, Peels Regional Police said. The gold and currency had arrived on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland, to Pearson International Airport in Toronto.
Shortly after the flight’s landing, the cargo was offloaded and transported to a separate location on airport property. It was reported missing to the police a day later. On May 6, 2024, investigators arrested and charged 36-year-old Archit Grover at the airport in Toronto as he flew in from India, according to the police.
The police had issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest earlier. He is charged with theft over Canadian dollars 5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, police said in a statement on Thursday. Grover was held for a bail hearing and attended the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton. He is also being indicted in the US for firearm-related charges.
Last month, two persons of Indian origin – Parmpal Sidhu, 54, and Amit Jalota, 40 — both from Ontario, were arrested in connection with the case along with Ammad Chaudhary, 43, Ali Raza, 37, and Prasath Paramalingam, 35. Besides, Canada-wide warrants were issued for Simran Preet Panesar, 31, from Brampton, who was also an Air Canada employee at the time of the theft and Arsalan Chaudhary, a 42-year-old man from Mississauga, the statement said.
According to the police, at least two former Air Canada employees allegedly helped in the audacious theft, one of whom is now in custody, while an arrest warrant has been issued for the other. Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick confirmed Sidhu and Panesar’s employment with the national flag carrier.
“One left the company prior to the arrests announced today and the second has been suspended," he said. The stolen cargo contained 6600 bars of .9999 pure gold, weighing 400 kilograms, valued at over 20 million dollars and Canadian dollars 2.5 million worth in foreign currency. In an earlier statement, the police said that investigators seized one kilogramme of gold worth approximately Canadian dollars 89,000, believed to be from the theft, smelting equipment, and approximately 434,000 dollars in Canadian currency.
(With agency inputs)
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