After pulling off the largest gold heist in Canadian history\u00a0\u2014 a $24-million haul stolen from Pearson airport\u00a0\u2014 Arsalan Chaudhary took a portion of the spoils for himself and then distributed the profits to names on his handwritten \u201cdebt list,\u201d a Brampton court heard on Monday.<\/p>\n
Reading from an agreed statement of facts, Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic detailed the money list police found in Chaudhary\u2019s apartment\u00a0\u2014 a $10.3-million ledger he\u2019d penned to track the distribution of profits from the melted gold.<\/p>\n
The count included a $5-million payout to an unidentified group; \u201c$1M\u201d to the \u201cboss\u201d; $200,000 for \u201cTommy\u201d; $150,000 to a \u201cdriver\u201d; $80,000 for a \u201cboat\u201d; $250,000 for a \u201ccondo\u201d and \u201c40K\u201d to \u201cparents,\u201d the court heard.<\/p>\n
In a nearly empty courtroom on Monday, 44-year-old Chaudhary admitted to allocating some of those profits after orchestrating the April 17, 2023, theft of 400 kilograms of gold from an Air Canada cargo facility outside of Pearson airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe acknowledges creating a debt list for the purpose of having the proceeds of this theft distributed and, ultimately, distributing some of those profits,\u201d Vlacic said.<\/p>\n
The Mississauga man, described by the Crown as a \u201ckey organizer\u201d of the scheme, is one of nine people charged or wanted\u00a0in connection with the heist. Two of them, including a former Air Canada employee, remain outstanding, according to Peel Regional Police.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In court, he stood up from the prisoner\u2019s box with a quiet confidence as he pleaded guilty to theft over $5,000, waiving his right to a trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The heist<\/p>\n
On a Monday evening in April, the wheels were put in motion.<\/p>\n
At 6:30 p.m., the driver of a white truck arrived at an Air Canada warehouse across from Pearson airport and presented a doctored waybill for a frozen seafood shipment, which had been picked up the day before, according to an agreed statement of facts.<\/p>\n
With that fake document, the driver managed to collect a cargo container of 6,600 gold bars\u00a0\u2014 each one 99.9 per cent pure\u00a0\u2014 and millions in foreign cash. The shipment had come from Zurich, Switzerland, and the gold was valued at $22.5 million, Vlacic\u00a0noted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Clockwise left from right, seven of the accused in the Pearson gold heist: Prasath Paramalingam, Parmpal Sidhu, Durante King-Mclean, Archit Grover,\u00a0Arsalan Chaudhary, Amit Jalota, Ali Raza.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kelly Skjerven Toronto Star \/ Supplied photos<\/p>\n
Citing time stamps from video surveillance, the Crown attorney detailed the driver\u2019s route from the storage bay to the meetup point\u00a0near Milton.<\/p>\n
Chaudhary, meanwhile, had been stationed in Mississauga five kilometres away from the cargo warehouse. After the gold was secured, Vlacic\u00a0said\u00a0he travelled \u201cnearly in tandem\u201d with the driver to the drop-off point. Sometime after 10 p.m., he arrived\u00a0and \u201ctook possession of some of the gold.\u201d<\/p>\n
The day of the heist, court heard Chaudhary had made dozens of calls to other co-conspirators in the heist\u00a0\u2014 including 16 to the driver alone.<\/p>\n
The aftermath<\/p>\n
According to the agreed statement of facts, Chaudhary knew the gold would have to be melted for it to have monetary value, so he co-ordinated a plan with some of his co-accused.<\/p>\n
In the days after the heist, Chaudhary texted his associate \u2014 an Air Canada employee \u2014 saying there was \u201ctoo much heat\u201d to get the gold melted, and they were \u201cgonna have to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melting gold is \u201ca process,\u201d he said, according to the statement read in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard they call you 2 chains of T-Dot,\u201d the associate replied, referring to the popular nickname for Toronto.<\/p>\n
\u201cLmao, bro. I wish I had it,\u201d Chaudhary said. \u201cLoved to be called 2 chains.\u201d<\/p>\n
Court heard the melting and sale of the gold took place in the basement of a Mississauga jewelry store weeks later. \u201cThey took all of it,\u201d an associate allegedly messaged Chaudhary on June 9, 2023. \u201cThey got horny when they see it hahahah.\u201d<\/p>\n
That same associate later wrote: \u201cBro. This was sick,\u201d to which Chaudhary replied, \u201ccan\u2019t wait to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, police said they only recovered about $90,000 of the stolen\u00a0gold.<\/p>\n
The distribution<\/p>\n