Gold heist: Canada police touch base with ED on suspect

The Indian Express has also learnt that the Peel Regional Police from Canada has established contact with the ED on the matter. Highly placed sources said both husband and wife have been living in India for over one year.

Panesar was an acting supervisor in operations control with Air Canada at the time of the gold heist, which occurred in April 2023. According to investigators, 6,600 gold bars weighing 400 kg of pure gold and about $2.5 million worth of various foreign currencies were stolen from Pearson International Airport’s cargo compound shortly after arriving on a flight from Zurich. He allegedly left Canada approximately three months after the heist.

When contacted by The Indian Express earlier, Panesar had refused to comment on his alleged involvement in the gold heist, citing his “family’s safety” and “legal reasons”.

ED officials who raided Panesar’s residence and questioned him and his wife said he had “a handsome pay package” while working with Air Canada.

His wife is a former Miss India Uganda, an aspiring singer and actor, and currently pursuing movie production, ED sources said.

It is learnt that the couple, in association with a renowned Punjabi actor, was in the process of releasing a movie. “We are verifying the source of money pumped into the movie production,” ED sources told The Indian Express. “A Chandigarh-based chartered accountant who invested money in the production is also being probed.”

ED has found that before landing a job as a manager in Air Canada, Panesar worked with a company providing wheelchair service at the Pearson International Airport, Toronto, for nearly six years. “He was well-versed with the airport’s operations and procedures,” said an ED official.

Investigators said he was born in Uganda, where his father used to run a business. He moved to Canada at a young age and subsequently attained citizenship. He pursued his education there and got married in 2016.

ED sources said they are probing the transactions made by the couple following the heist. According to ED sources, the couple will likely be questioned again next week.