ED Raids Residence of Simran Preet Panesar, Key Accused in Canada’s Biggest Gold Heist

A senior ED official confirmed, “Our teams are in the process of questioning him.”

Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted a raid at the residence of Simran Preet Panesar, a former Air Canada manager accused of orchestrating Canada’s largest gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport in April 2023. Panesar, who is the subject of a Canada-wide arrest warrant, was also questioned by ED officials at his home in Sector 79, Mohali, Punjab.

ED’s Probe into Money Laundering

The ED’s investigation, a rare case involving an international crime, is focused on tracking whether the stolen gold or its proceeds were funneled into India. A senior ED official confirmed, “Our teams are in the process of questioning him.”

The Indian Express had earlier reported that Panesar was residing on the outskirts of Chandigarh.

The Toronto Pearson Gold Heist

On April 17, 2023, thieves used fake documentation to steal a cargo container filled with gold bars from a secure storage facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The stolen cargo included:

6,600 bars of pure gold (.9999 purity) weighing 400 kg, worth over 20 million Canadian dollars (CAD).
Foreign currency worth 2.5 million CAD.

The shipment had arrived in Toronto from Zurich, Switzerland, via an Air Canada flight and was intended for delivery to a bank in Toronto. However, after being offloaded, it was transported to another location within the airport, only to be reported missing the following day.

Investigation and Arrest Warrants

The Peel Regional Police (PRP), which labeled the incident as Canada’s biggest gold heist, arrested nine individuals, including Simran Preet Panesar, in April 2024. Authorities also issued an arrest warrant for Parampal Sidhu, another suspect who, like Panesar, worked at Toronto Pearson's warehouse facility and lived in Brampton, Canada.

Despite the investigation, the stolen gold has not been recovered, except for 90,000 CAD seized by Canadian authorities.

The ED’s ongoing probe aims to trace whether the proceeds of the heist have been transferred to India, adding a new international dimension to the case.