Ex-Air Canada Manager Simran Preet Panesar to Surrender
in Connection with Multimillion-Dollar Gold Heist

Los Angeles/Jun 15, 2024
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh

Simran Preet Panesar, a former Air Canada manager implicated in a multimillion-dollar gold heist, intends to surrender, his lawyer reports. Panesar is one of nine individuals charged in the April 2023 heist at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, the largest gold theft in Canadian history.

Panesar, wanted on charges including theft over $5,000 related to the theft of over $20 million in gold from the airport, trusts in the Canadian justice system, according to his lawyer, Greg Lafontaine. Lafontaine asserts that Panesar will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Panesar resigned from Air Canada last summer and has been missing since. In April, Peel Regional Police announced charges against him and eight others, following 37 executed search warrants. Authorities recovered $430,000 in cash, six gold bracelets valued at $89,000, and smelting equipment.

Upon learning of the charges, Panesar retained Lafontaine, who promptly contacted police and the Crown prosecutor to arrange Panesar’s voluntary return to Canada. Panesar is currently preparing for his return, though his exact location remains undisclosed for safety reasons. Investigations by CBC News suggest he may be in India with his wife, Preety Panesar.

The heist involved stealing 400 kilograms of pure gold and approximately $2.5 million in foreign currencies from Pearson’s cargo area shortly after its arrival from Zurich. The suspect used a legitimate airway bill to gain entry, loaded the gold and cash onto a truck, and drove away. The airway bill, a duplicate of one used for a seafood shipment the previous day, was printed within the Air Canada facility.

As charges were announced, Panesar and two other suspects were still at large, leading to Canada-wide warrants for their arrests. In May, suspect Archit Grover was apprehended at Pearson after arriving from India. Another suspect, Arsalan Chaudhary, remains unaccounted for, with police suspecting he might be in Dubai.

Panesar's previous residence in Brampton, Ontario, has been vacant since last summer. He was initially known to investigators and had even led police on a tour of the cargo facility before becoming a suspect.

The gold heist investigation overlaps with a U.S. firearms trafficking case. In September 2023, Pennsylvania State Troopers found 65 firearms destined for Canada in a vehicle driven by Canadian Durante King-McLean, now in U.S. custody. King-McLean is also believed to have driven the truck used in the heist.

King-McLean and a Florida woman, Jalisa Edwards, face trial in the fall on firearms trafficking charges. Two other suspects, Prasath Paramalingam and Grover, are also implicated. Grand jury documents suggest Paramalingam funded firearms purchases and Grover was involved in evidence removal.

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