Crown and defence make closing submissions in trial of Parmpal Sidhu over Pearson gold heist

The Story

Prosecutors and defence lawyers presented competing versions of Parmpal Sidhu’s role in the April 2023 gold heist at Toronto’s Pearson airport as closing submissions were heard Monday in Brampton, Ont. Sidhu has pleaded not guilty to theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Court heard Sidhu’s profile was used to print a doctored air waybill that allowed another man to pick up more than $22 million in gold and currency, though the defence noted it was not uncommon for employees to use someone else’s profile on shared computers.

The Crown alleged Sidhu printed the fraudulent waybill and made the call to release the shipment. Prosecutors also argued Sidhu’s close relationship with Simran Preet Panesar—who worked for the airline at the time and is still wanted—along with a link to Archit Grover connected him to the plan.

Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic told the court that it was “near impossible” for Sidhu not to have been involved in the planning and execution, pointing to evidence including wiretaps from February 2024 and “a very explicit comment about the loss of his cut.”

The defence argued the evidence supports a different narrative, saying Sidhu was taken advantage of by Panesar, his then-colleague and friend of roughly two decades, who they allege orchestrated the heist from the inside. Defence lawyer Shale Wagman said Panesar “hijacked” Sidhu’s user ID and password, as well as those of two other employees.

Wagman argued investigators did not find any heist money in Sidhu’s home or bank accounts and said Chaudhary used Sidhu as a “blind telephone switchboard” to reach Panesar when he was not answering his phone.

In reply, the Crown said there is no evidence Panesar used Sidhu’s username and password, nor that Panesar and Chaudhary made “hollow promises” from abroad, and characterized those as hypotheticals.

The case is being heard by a judge alone, and a ruling is expected in late January 2027. In the lead-up to trial, prosecutors dropped charges against two other men accused in the case, Ali Raza and Amit Jalota.

Chaudhary, described by prosecutors as one of the architects of the plan, was arrested earlier in the year as he flew back from Dubai and has since pleaded guilty to theft over $5,000. He was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay back $22 million in restitution.

On the stand last month, Chaudhary testified that he planned the heist with Panesar and took 30 per cent of the boxes full of gold bars. He said he melted some of the gold, sold it for cash and fled to Pakistan, and he told the court he communicated with Sidhu on the day of the theft but could not remember what he said.