What we learned from today’s testimony
It was a stuffy, packed courtroom proceeding today in the trial for Parmpal Sidhu, for his alleged involvement in the 2023 Pearson airport gold heist.
Crown prosecutors previously alleged in court that Sidhu, a former Air Canada employee, provided a doctored waybill that allowed another man to pick up more than $22 million in gold and currency from a Pearson cargo bay.
Arsalan Chaudhary, the 43-year-old believed to have been at the helm of the operation, testified during Sidhu’s trial today. He told the Brampton Ont., court that the “planning of the gold heist was all me” and that he had “heard” of Sidhu but doesn’t “really know him.”
Chaudhary remained vague in his description of Sidhu, and his testimony was muddled, interrupting Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic numerous times and prompting Justice Gordon Cudjoe to tell him to “take a deep breath” before answering more questions.
Most of Chaudhary’s testimony today focused on text and group chat messages related to the heist that he said he did not remember or recall. His testimony also shed light on what he did with the portion of gold that he took for himself.
According to his testimony, Chaudhary took a third of the gold from the heist and stashed it in a condo in the Greater Toronto Area. He melted it for sale, acquiring $200,000 to $300,000 in cash.
He eventually made his way to Pakistan with the money, where he said he was abducted and forced to give it up, along with the remaining gold from the condo unit in Canada.
Chaudhary was sentenced this spring to four years in prison after pleading guilty to theft over $5,000, and was given 40 years to pay back $22 million in restitution.
His testimony will continue tomorrow.
With files from The Canadian Press