Organizer of $22M Airport Gold Heist Gets 4-Year Sentence

A key organizer in Canada's largest gold heist was sentenced to four years in prison this week for his role in the 2023 theft of more than 22 million in gold and cash from Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Arslan Chaudhary, 44, appeared before Ontario Court Justice Shannon McPherson in a Brampton courtroom on Wednesday, where he received the sentence after pleading guilty to theft over $5,000. The charge carried a maximum penalty of 10 years, but prosecutors had sought seven years, citing the theft's scale. Chaudhary also faces a 40-year restitution order to repay 22 million to the affected company, Brink's Canada. His effective time served will be reduced by 174 days credited for pretrial custody, leaving about 42 months remaining.

The heist occurred on April 17, 2023, when a shipment containing 400 kilograms of nearly pure gold bars, valued at around 20 million, and 2.5 million in foreign currency arrived at Pearson on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland. The cargo was offloaded to an Air Canada facility in Mississauga around 6:32 p.m. Authorities say a suspect presented a fraudulent airway bill, altered to mimic a legitimate pickup, prompting an employee to...