A man involved in the largest-known Canadian gold heist was arrested and charged on Monday in Toronto, the authorities said.
The man, Arsalan Chaudhary, 43, was charged with theft and other offenses as part of an investigation into the April 2023 heist, in which gold bars worth more than 20 million Canadian dollars, about $14.4 million, were stolen from Toronto Pearson International Airport, said the Peel Regional Police, the force that patrols the airport.
Mr. Chaudhary was arrested at the same airport on Monday after arriving on a flight from Dubai, the police said.
Nearly three years earlier, police officers had been called to the airport because a container containing roughly 400 kilograms of 99.99 percent pure gold and about 2.5 million Canadian dollars in foreign currency, or $1.8 million, had disappeared.
The container had arrived at the airport on April 17, 2023, aboard an Air Canada flight from Zurich and was moved into a secure cargo holding facility, the police said.
About two hours later, a man arrived at the warehouse with a waybill, a document issued by carriers that provides details of a shipment, the police said in April 2024.
The waybill was actually a duplicate of one used a day earlier for a shipment of seafood, and the man was able to leave the warehouse with the gold and cash, the police said.
The next morning, after an armored truck arrived with the authentic waybill for the valuables, the police were called.
The gold bars, then worth about $14.8 million, were intended for a Toronto-based bank, and the money was headed to a Vancouver-based currency exchange, according to a lawsuit brought by Brink’s, the security company hired to move the goods to Canada from Switzerland.
The police said in April 2024 that they believed that all of the gold bars had been melted down.
Mr. Chaudhary is one of 10 people the Peel Regional Police have identified in connection with the theft. They are all either the subject of warrants or have been charged, and the group includes an Air Canada employee and a Canadian man arrested in the United States for illegally trafficking firearms.
Mr. Chaudhary was charged on Monday with theft over $5,000, two counts of possession of property obtained by crime and conspiracy to commit indictable offense.
He had arranged with his lawyers to turn himself upon arriving in Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The police are still seeking two people in connection with the theft. Officials have filed a request to extradite Simran Preet Panesar, a 33-year-old man from Brampton, Ontario, and a former Air Canada employee, who they believe is in India. Prasath Paramalingam, 36, also from Brampton, is the subject of a bench warrant after he did not appear in court in August 2024.
The police urged the men to seek legal counsel and to turn themselves in. The Peel police chief, Nishan Duraiappah, said in a statement: “Let it be known: no matter where you try to run or hide, we will find you.”
Amanda Holpuch covers breaking news and other topics.
The post Arrest Made in Toronto Airport Gold Heist as Police Seek 2 Others appeared first on New York Times.
