ED launches probe into gold heist in Canadian territory
The financial crimes probe agency, without any request from Canada, has suo motu registered an Enforcement Case Information Report.
In a rare instance of investigating a crime beyond India’s territorial boundaries, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched a money-laundering probe into the biggest-ever gold heist in Canada since one of the key suspects in the case – Simran Preet Panesar -- is now in India, people familiar with the development said.
The financial crimes probe agency, without any request from Canada, has suo motu registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR, which is ED’s equivalent of first information report) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) into a 22.5 million Canadian dollars (CAD) heist from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in April 2023.
The idea, officers aware of the matter said, is to investigate if the gold or its proceeds made its way to India.
To take up a probe where the crime has been committed on a foreign soil, ED has used section 2 (1) (ra) of PMLA which deals with cases of “cross-border implications” and says: “Any conduct by a person at a place outside India which constitutes an offence at that place and which would have constituted an offence specified in Part A, Part B or Part C of the Schedule, had it been committed in India and if such person 2 [transfers in any manner] the proceeds of such conduct or part thereof to India”.
“It is a rare probe taken up by us suo motu to investigate if the gold from the Toronto airport or any money made out of it has been laundered to India,” said a senior officer aware of the matter who asked not to be named. Panesar, this officer added, will be “located, taken into custody, and interrogated”.
ED had earlier conducted tax evasion and laundering investigation in 2016 Panama Papers leak, in which 11.5 million leaked financial and attorney-client details of over 2,14,888 offshore entities which were created by Panamian law firm Mossack Fonseca, as there were names of Indians in it. Panama Papers probe was referred to ED by the Reserve Bank of India.
The Indian Express reported earlier this week that the 32-year-old Panesar, a former manager at Air Canada, was living on the outskirts of Chandigarh and leading a normal life after fleeing Canada, even as authorities in that country were looking for him.
On April 17, 2023, an air cargo container carrying gold bars was stolen from a secure storage facility using fake paperwork. The stolen cargo contained 6,600 bars of .9999 pure gold weighing 400kg, valued at over 20 million CAD, and foreign currency worth 2.5 million CAD.
The gold and currency arrived on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland, to the Pearson International Airport in Toronto. The gold bars belonged to a precious metals refining company in Switzerland and were destined for a bank in Toronto.Shortly after the flight landed, the cargo was offloaded and transported to a separate location on airport property. A day later, it was reported missing to the police.
The Peel Regional Police (PRP), which described the theft as the largest gold heist in Canada ever, charged Panesar and eight others in April 2024, and issued an arrest warrant against him. He and another accused, Parampal Sidhu, lived in the Bramptonand worked at the airport’s warehouse facility.
It was disclosed by PRP in 2024 that Panesar even gave a tour of the warehouse facility to the cops after the heist. While Sidhu was arrested by the Peel Police in May 2024, Panesar went missing.
The Canadian authorities are yet to recover the gold. Out of stolen cargo, only 90000 CAD is learnt to have been recovered by PRP.
A second official aware of the matter said that ED may approach Canadian authorities to seek more information about the case, verify its warrant against Panesar, and inquire if they have any other suspect who could be in India.
“We have just registered the PMLA case and probe has just begun,” said this officer when asked if there is any hint of any proceeds from the heist transferred to India.
HT reached out to PRP for a comment on the developments but was yet to get a response till the time of going to print.
