ED raids house of Simran Preet, primary accused in Canadas biggest gold heist

Latest Reports: Free Balochistan Movement urges UN to intervene and end Pakistani military suppression EAM Jaishankar holds talks with Chinese counterpart at G20 sidelines ‘No room for coercion’: Jaishankar’s veiled dig at China during G20 Ministers’s Meeting Delhi CM Rekha Gupta implements Ayushman Bharat, tables CAG reports ‘Even God Cant Change Bengaluru’: DK Shivakumar’s remarks stirs controversy Railway Ministry orders X to remove videos of New Delhi Railway Station stampede MEA reacts to Trump’s $21 mn USAID fund claim, calls it ‘deeply concerning’ Sambhal Violence: Police charge 79, identify international auto lifter as mastermind Vietnam publishes baseline map for Gulf of Tonkin Maharashtra Cyber Cell books Wikipedia editors over inaccurate content on Chhatrapati Sambhaji Pakistan-Russia freight train services to begin in March U.S. opposes labelling Russia as aggressor in G7s invasion statement Preliminary probe found Pak national linked to Gaurav Gogoi’s wife visited India 18 times: Assam CM ‘Unacceptable’: India hits back at Erdogans objectionable remark on Kashmir Dharmendra Pradhan slams Tamil Nadu’s ‘myopic vision’ on NEP 2020, urges adoption

ED raids house of Simran Preet, primary accused in Canada's biggest gold heist

In Reports
02:07 PM, Feb 21, 2025
Myind Staff

On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a raid at the residence of 32-year-old Simran Preet Panesar, a former Air Canada manager and questioned him. He is currently wanted across Canada for his alleged involvement in the gold robbery that took place at Toronto Pearson International Airport in April 2023. On Friday morning, an ED team reached Simran Preet Panesar's house in Sector 79 of Mohali, Punjab.

“Our teams are in the process of questioning him,” a senior ED officer conveyed. Previously, The Indian Express notified Panesar's residence on the outskirts of Chandigarh.

In a rare move extending beyond India’s borders, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigates financial crimes, has initiated a money-laundering probe into the case now that the accused is in India. Officials familiar with the matter stated that the aim is to determine whether the gold or its proceeds have entered the country.

On April 17, 2023, an air cargo container filled with gold bars was stolen from a secure storage facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport using fake documents.

The stolen shipment included 6,600 gold bars of .9999 purity, weighing a total of 400 kg and valued at over 20 million Canadian dollars. Additionally, it contained 2.5 million CAD in foreign currency. The gold and cash had arrived in Toronto on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland and were intended for delivery to a bank in the city.

After the flight landed, the cargo was unloaded and moved to another location within the airport. However, the next day, it went ‘missing’, and the case was filed with the police.

Peel Regional Police (PRP) called it the "biggest gold heist in Canada ever" and, in April 2024, charged nine individuals, including Simran Preet Panesar, while also issuing an arrest warrant for him. Panesar and another suspect, Parampal Sidhu, lived in Brampton and worked at the Toronto Pearson warehouse facility.

Despite ongoing investigations, Canadian authorities have yet to recover the stolen gold. So far, PRP has only managed to retrieve 90,000 CAD from the stolen shipment.

Comments

Myind Staff

Contributor Profile

Reports