Leader of $22M Gold Heist at Toronto Airport Handed a 4-Year Prison Term

The ringleader of the largest gold heist in Canadian history has been sentenced to four years behind bars, minus time served in pre-sentence custody.

Arsalan Chaudhary has 42 months left to serve on his four-year sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of theft over $5,000 for his role in the heist of more than $22 million in gold and cash from the Toronto Pearson Airport three years ago. The gold and cash arrived on a flight from Switzerland on April 17, 2023, and was stolen hours later, before a scheduled pickup by Brinks Canada.

The court also ordered the 43-year-old Chaudhary to reimburse Brinks for the $22 million that was stolen—a restitution order that will be in effect for 40 years.

Only $86,000 of the $20 million in stolen gold and roughly $2.5 million in various foreign currencies has been recovered.

The heist was the country’s largest-ever gold theft and the sixth largest globally in modern history. Chaudhary was charged with theft over $5,000, the most serious general theft charge in Canada, as well as two counts of possession of property obtained by crime, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

The latter charges were dropped after the former Mississauga, Ont., resident turned himself in earlier this year, following nearly two years on the lam. The theft charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Crown prosecutor Jelena Vlacic requested a seven-year sentence and Chaudhary’s attorney asked for four years minus time served in pretrial custody.

Ontario Court Justice Shannon McPherson accepted defence counsel’s recommendation of four years minus 174 days, calculated on a two-for-one basis for the duration Chaudhary was held in custody prior to sentencing.

McPherson said Chaudhary’s “exceptional” decision to return to Canada to surrender warranted a more lenient sentence. He originally fled the country after police issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest, but flew into Toronto from Dubai on Jan. 12, despite the absence of an extradition treaty with Canada.

“In practical terms, there was no available mechanism to compel his return and he was beyond the reach of the Canadian criminal justice system in those circumstances,” McPherson told the courtroom during sentencing on April 8. “He made the deliberate decision to return to Canada to face the consequences of his actions.”

Officers arrested Chaudhary at Toronto Pearson International Airport after he contacted police, advised them of his travel plans, and surrendered upon arrival, the judge said.

Gold Heist

Peel Regional Police have been investigating the heist since a shipping container filled with 6,600 gold bars was stolen from an Air Canada cargo facility shortly after arriving on a flight from Zurich, Switzerland.

The cargo was moved from the airplane to the cargo facility a few hours later. There, it was loaded into a five-tonne truck after the driver presented phoney documents to Air Canada staff, the court heard. The suspect drove off with the gold a short time later.

The theft wasn’t discovered until the Brink’s Canada employees arrived at the Air Canada cargo site to pick up the gold.

Chaudhary spoke with the driver of the truck 50 times in the days preceding the heist, the court heard. He followed the truck after the heist for roughly 50 kilometres, to Acton, Ont., where he took some of the gold while the remainder was delivered to a jeweller to be melted down.

The melting and forging process took 53 days and the gold was then sold to a buyer who “took all of it,” the court heard.

A suspect believed to be the driver of the truck is currently in U.S. custody, police said during a 2024 press conference. A warrant has been issued for 27-year-old Durante King-Mclean of Brampton, Ont., who is wanted for multiple offences in connection with the case, including theft over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.

King-Mclean recently pleaded guilty to charges related to firearms trafficking in the United States. He was arrested after being pulled over in a rental vehicle by Pennsylvania police in September of 2023 and was charged after illegal firearms allegedly destined for Canada were found in the vehicle.

Five Ontario men were also arrested in connection with the investigation by Peel police. They are 56-year-old Air Canada employee Parmpal Sidhu, 33, of Brampton, Amit Jalota, 42, of Oakville, Ammad Chaudhary, 45, of Georgetown, and 38-year-old Archit Grover, of Brampton.

Two people remain fugitives. Simran Preet Panesar, a 33-year-old former Brampton resident, is believed to be in India. He quit his job as a manager at the cargo warehouse from where the gold was stolen a few months following the heist and subsequently vanished.

Fellow Brampton resident Prasath Paramalingam, 36, was arrested in the original sweep but disappeared after being released from custody. He is the subject of a bench warrant for arrest after failing to appear in court on Aug. 19, 2024, and is also wanted in the United States in connection with a gun-running case.