On Friday morning (February 21), India woke up to the news of an Enforcement Directorate raid on a residence on the outskirts of Chandigarh. However, this raid is no ordinary one; it has a connection to Canada — namely the biggest gold heist in the Western country.
That’s because authorities swooped in on the residence of 32-year-old Simran Preet Panesar, who is wanted by the Canadian authorities for his alleged role in the gold heist of over C$20 million (Rs 122 crore). In fact, the ED raids come just days after the Indian Express, along with CBC News: The Fifth Estate, reported that Panesar was living on the outskirts of Chandigarh, evading Canadian authorities.
As the investigations continue, we take a closer look at who exactly is Simran Preet Panesar and how he is linked to Canada’s biggest gold heist.
On Friday morning, ED officials landed at Panesar’s residence in Mohali’s Sector 79 and began questioning him. Confirming the same, an ED official told Indian Express, “Our teams have reached his (Preet Panesar’s) residence and are in the process of questioning him.”
The action comes as the ED registered a case against Panesar using Sector 2 (1) (ra) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This legislation deals with cases of “cross-border implications” and mentions — “Any conduct by a person at a place outside India which constitutes an offence at that place and which would have constituted an offence specified in Part A, Part B or Part C of the Schedule, had it been committed in India and if such person [transfers in any manner] the proceeds of such conduct or part thereof to India”.
As the Hindustan Times reported, the idea behind the raids is to ascertain if the gold stolen during the Canadian heist or its proceeds made their way to the country.
Notably, the raids come just days after an Indian Express investigation revealed that Panesar was living in Mohali in a rented apartment with his family, including his wife Preety Panesar, a former Miss India Uganda, a singer and an actor.
The newspaper’s investigation found that Panesar is leading a normal life, helping his wife’s and family’s business affairs.
One of Panesar’s neighbours told Indian Express that they had learned that the 32-year-old “was involved in some monetary dispute in Canada, but were told that it was over”.
Panesar first made headlines following the April 17, 2023
gold heist at Toronto Pearson Airport. The great gold robbery was made possible by a fraudulent shipping document for a load of farm-raised Scottish salmon. This was used to brazenly snatch C$20 million (Rs 122 crore) worth of gold and cash in foreign currency, leading investigators and media to dub it Canada’s biggest gold heist.
Investigations revealed that the stolen goods including, 6,600 bars of .9999 pure gold weighing 400 kg and foreign currency worth C$2.5 million, had come to the Toronto-Pearson Airport on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland, in Toronto, and were destined for a bank in Canada’s largest city.
However, after the flight landed, the cargo was offloaded onto a hulking white box truck and left the site, only to be reported ‘missing’ the next day.
Days later, the Peel Police charged nine people for the crime, including Simran Preet Panesar. At the time of the heist, Panesar, according to the police, a resident of Brampton was an Air Canada employee. In fact, according to a CBC report, he was assigned as the point of contact for the police. If authorities had a question about Air Canada’s warehouse operation, he was the one they were supposed to talk to.
As the investigations proceeded, they found that Panesar was the only one who had “the necessary access to search incoming high-value shipments.” Moreover, the probe found that Panesar had searched the system for the incoming flight containing the gold and tracked its movement. Once the plane landed, authorities say he began tracking the container holding the gold.
“He also manipulated the Air Canada Cargo system, to facilitate the physical removal of the container,” reads a Crown document, which adds, “Once the theft was complete, he stopped searching altogether.”
What made the police even more suspicious of Panesar was the fact that he quit his job at Air Canada within months of the crime and disappeared. However, in June 2024, the Peel Regional Police announced that Panesar had agreed to surrender. At the time, Panesar’s lawyer, Greg Lafontaine, told CBC that his client was “very confident in the Canadian justice system.”
“When this prosecution is over, he will have been absolved of any wrongdoing,” Lafontaine added, without saying where Panesar is.
He further added that Panesar was “tidying up his affairs abroad in preparation of his return to Canada.”
Canadian authorities note Panesar was part of a nine-person plan, which included Parampal Sidhu, another employee of Air Canada. The Peel Regional Police believe that “both worked together and facilitated the heist” because they were the “insiders”.
Sidhu was arrested shortly after the heist and charged with theft. Even the driver of the truck, which drove away with the gold — Canadian national, Durante King-McLean — has been in custody in the US after he crossed borders illegally.
Another suspect,
Archit Grover, was arrested in May 2024, when he turned himself in and landed at the Pearson International Airport. The police note that Grover was the owner of the trucking company that was used in the theft. Moreover, he was a friend of Parampal.
Others involved in the crime are: Amit Jalota, who cops note, looked after the stolen gold. There’s also Ammad Chaudhary, Prasath Parmalingam, Arsalan Chaudhary and Ali Raza who were allegedly involved in the crime. All of them are now arrested, barring Chaudhary, who, according to a CBC report, is hiding in Dubai.
Almost two years after the crime, investigators have only been able to recover one kilogramme of gold approximately C$89,000 (Rs 55,000), believed to be from the theft, and approximately C$434,000 in currency.
With inputs from agencies
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