In 2023, the country’s largest gold theft occurred at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, when Arsalan Chaudhary masterminded the theft of 6,600 gold bars worth $22.5 million, along with millions of dollars in foreign cash. Two Air Canada employees, now separated, were also involved, with the shipment arriving at an Air Canada warehouse and being handed over to the wrong person who presented the false bill. Three years later, Chaudhry was arrested in January and admitted to the robbery in court on Monday, the Toronto Star reported , detailing what happened in court. Chaudhry discovered a handwritten “debt list” in which he noted who would receive how much from the proceeds of the gold heist. The gold is melted down and the proceeds go to those designated. Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic detailed the money sheet police found in Chaudhary’s apartment – a ledger worth $10.3 million in which he used a pen to record the distribution of profits from melted gold.
- An unidentified group was awarded $5 million in damages
- $1 million to “the boss”
- “Tommy” $200,000
- $150,000 to “driver”
- $80,000 to buy a “boat”
- $250,000 for “Apartment”
- “40K” to “parents”.
Chaudhry was arrested last January after flying from Dubai to Pearson Airport with the arrangement of his lawyer. Weeks after the theft, the gold was melted down and sold in the basement of a Mississauga jewelry store. Police said they found only about $90,000 worth of gold.The court heard that after the theft, getaway driver Durant King-McLean fled to the United States and stayed at an Airbnb booked in the names of the Chaudhry brothers. Chaudhry said he arranged for the driver to escape but his brother knew nothing about it. In September 2023, King McClain was arrested at a traffic stop near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Police seized 65 handguns and two cellphones destined for Canada.