Who is Simran Preet Panesar, suspect in Canada’s ‘biggest’ gold heist?

Simran Preet Panesar (Image: Peel Regional Police)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a search on Friday at the Mohali premises of Simran Preet Panesar, a man in his thirties, who is reportedly a suspect in Canada’s biggest-ever gold heist of more than $20 million.

The ED has recently registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to investigate the gold heist at Canada’s Pearson International Airport in April 2023.

As part of the probe, officials searched Panesar’s Mohali premises and will be questioning him too.

The raids took place days after the Indian Express, along with CBC News: The Fifth Estate, reported that Panesar was living on the outskirts of Chandigarh, eluding Canadian authorities.

As authorities investigate further, let’s take a look at Simran Preet Panesar’s background and his alleged involvement in Canada’s biggest gold heist --

- Panesar is among the nine suspects allegedly involved in Canada’s biggest gold heist worth $22.5 million

- Once an acting supervisor in Air Canada’s operations control, Simran Preet Panesar is now wanted across Canada for his alleged involvement in the audacious April 2023 gold heist

- The theft saw 6,600 gold bars weighing 400 kg of pure gold, along with $2.5 million in foreign currency, vanish from Pearson International Airport’s cargo facility shortly after arriving from Zurich, according to The Indian Express

- Acting on its own authority, the ED filed a case suo moto under the PMLA, which allows for investigations into cross-border crimes where an Indian national is allegedly involved, even without a formal request from Canada, as per a PTI report

- The agency wants to probe if the "proceeds of crime" of this alleged heist travelled to India and if there were any beneficiaries here

- Describing it as the biggest gold heist in Canada’s history, Peel Regional Police (PRP) charged nine individuals, including Simran Preet Panesar, in April 2024 and issued a warrant for his arrest

- According to The Indian Express, officials investigating the heist reviewed computer records at Air Canada’s cargo facility and reportedly found that “Panesar had searched the system for the incoming flight containing the gold and tracked its movement”. Once the flight landed, he allegedly began tracking the container carrying the gold