Charges dropped against two men in $22M Toronto Pearson Airport gold heist

Ali Raza and Amit Jalota, accused of handling stolen gold after the 2023 Pearson heist, have had all charges against them dropped by the Crown.

Crown drops all charges against jeweller and accomplice in Pearson gold heist

All charges against two men connected to the 2023 Toronto Pearson Airport gold heist have been stayed, National Post Crime reports, after prosecutors concluded there was no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction.

Ali Raza, 39, of Toronto, appeared in a Brampton, Ontario courtroom Wednesday dressed in a suit and tie, flanked by his lawyers, when the decision was announced before Ontario Superior Court Justice Nancy Dennison. A day earlier, on Tuesday, the same judge delivered the same outcome for the second accused, Amit Jalota, 42, of Oakville.

Crown prosecutor Jelena Vlacic told the court that the prosecution's case "rested upon circumstantial evidence and the inferences available from that evidence." As the investigation progressed, new evidence and additional details emerged that caused the Crown to reassess its position. That shifting evidentiary picture affected both cases.

The specific nature of the new evidence cannot be reported due to a court-ordered publication ban, put in place to protect the integrity of a pending jury trial against those still facing charges — a trial scheduled to begin next month.

Raza: the jeweller who said he had nothing to hide

Raza had been identified by investigators as "the jeweller" in the heist plot. He was accused of melting down stolen gold in the basement workshop of his jewellery store and charged with possession of property obtained by crime. He is one of the proprietors of Mashallah Jewellers, according to his lawyer, Brij Mohan.

The store sits less than 600 metres from the airport's property line along Airport Road, inside a low-rise strip plaza that forms part of a retail cluster serving primarily South Asian and Middle Eastern clientele with an interest in gold and jewellery. At least a dozen gold jewellers operate in and around the same plaza.

Raza consistently maintained his innocence. Rather than avoiding scrutiny, he agreed to an on-camera interview with CBC and gave journalists a tour of his workshop, arguing that his equipment was capable of melting only small quantities — a gold ring, he said, but not a gold bar.

"Mr. Raza was an innocent man — today he gets his life back," Mohan said outside court. "Mr. Raza himself was fully cooperative with police and even reached out to the police himself. His business and life were destroyed by these allegations, and he can now move forward with his life." Mohan added it was too early for his client to consider any legal action. Raza thanked his family, supporters and legal team for standing by him.

Jalota: accused of delivering the gold for melting

Jalota faced a broader set of charges: possession of property obtained by crime, theft over $5,000, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. He was accused of transporting stolen gold to Raza for melting and redistribution. All charges were withdrawn Tuesday.

His lawyer, Leora Shemesh, said that despite the dropped charges, Jalota continues to feel the consequences of his arrest. "He has at all times professed his innocence and has painfully endured three years navigating the justice system," Shemesh said. Jalota was released on bail during proceedings.

The heist: $22 million in gold, gone in hours

The theft at the centre of the case took place on April 17, 2023, when a shipping container holding 400.19 kilograms of near-pure gold bars — valued at over $22 million — was stolen from an Air Canada cargo facility at Pearson shortly after arriving on a flight from Zurich, Switzerland.

The operation was strikingly simple. A lone driver entered the warehouse and presented an Air Canada waybill for a seafood shipment that had already been collected. A warehouse employee loaded the gold container onto the man's truck using a forklift. The theft went undetected for three hours, until Brink's security arrived to collect the cargo and found it missing.

Peel Regional Police, on the first anniversary of the theft, announced nine arrest warrants as part of the investigation, codenamed Project 24K. Five suspects were arrested in Canada; four were listed as fugitives. One of those — the driver of the truck that removed the gold from the airport — is in custody in the United States after police stopped a car in Pennsylvania and found 65 handguns in the trunk, destined for Canada. He has pleaded guilty to firearms charges. Authorities allege a portion of the gold's proceeds funded that cross-border gun-smuggling operation.

A small amount of gold from the heist was recovered. It had been recast into six roughly fashioned gold bracelets, but the purity of the metal meant they were still worth approximately $90,000.

Mastermind sentenced, restitution ordered

Arsalan Chaudhary, 43, formerly of Mississauga, Ontario, was identified as the architect of the operation. Vlacic described him Wednesday as "the principal organizer and benefactor of the heist." In April, Chaudhary received a four-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $22 million in restitution to Brink's, which had been transporting the gold on behalf of two clients: TD Bank in Toronto and a foreign exchange company in Vancouver.

Raza and Jalota were among the first arrested in the investigation, apprehended roughly a year after the heist drew international attention. With their charges now gone, and a jury trial for remaining accused set for next month, the legal proceedings surrounding one of Canada's most audacious cargo thefts continue.

Source: National Post Crime