Pearson Airport gold heist suspects appear in Ontario Court as international probe continues

Five of the men charged in connection with last year’s brazen theft of some $20 million in gold bars from Pearson Airport in Mississauga — the largest such heist in Canadian history — were scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Archit Grover, 36, and Prasath Paramalingam, 35, both of Brampton (they also face additional charges in the U.S. related to alleged firearm offences), Ammad Chaudhary, 43, of Georgetown, Amit Jalota, 40, of Oakville, and Ali Raza, 37, of Toronto, had scheduled appearances at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, according to courthouse records.

Their appearances in court are considered procedural as the men have not yet gone to trial and none of the charges have been proven in court.

The Peel Police Services Board’s most recent meeting, held June 21, heard the sweeping investigation has cost Peel Regional Police $5.3 million so far to investigate, and the tab could climb to as high as $10 million.

The high-profile case has garnered international headlines since the evening of April 17, 2023, when a five-tonne getaway truck backed up to a loading bay at an Air Canada cargo facility at Pearson, took on the load of 6,600 gold bars in addition to more than $2 million in cash, drove away to Milton and then vanished.

The precious cargo had arrived just a couple of hours earlier on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland.

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Lead investigators told Police Services Board members in June they believe “a significant portion of the gold left to foreign markets” in countries that include India and Dubai “very soon after” the theft.

Peel police in addition to other law enforcement agencies, including from the U.S., announced at a press conference one year after the theft that they had made numerous arrests.

Following up on numerous leads has been, and continues to be, a major part of the massive investigation that has greatly strained Peel police resources as it has reached into the U.S. and across the globe. Most of the suspects charged in the case have already appeared for a first time in Brampton court, and five others were in court on Monday for follow-up appearances.

Several others have yet to be tracked down by Peel cops in connection with the heist.

Moving forward, investigators said additional details about the case will be revealed to the public when appropriate and with respect to the judicial process.

To date, Peel police have identified and charged or issued warrants for nine people in connection with the case, which has continued to garner international headlines now 15 months since the precious cargo disappeared.