Charges dropped against two men in Toronto gold heist case

Canadian prosecutors have withdrawn charges against two men accused of involvement in a major gold heist at Toronto Pearson Airport in 2023, according to the Toronto Star.

Amit Jalota and Ali Raza had the charges against them dropped last week. Their lawyers said both men had consistently maintained their innocence and were relieved to move on with their lives.

Gold and cash stolen from airport cargo facility

More than 6,500 gold bars valued at C$20 million, along with millions of dollars in cash, were stolen from the airport in April 2023. The gold weighed about 400 kilograms.

The shipment had arrived on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland. Police allege that the perpetrators accessed the cargo facility using a fake airway bill before using a truck to remove the gold.

Jalota and Raza were accused of possessing either stolen gold or currency connected to the crime. Their lawyers said the allegations had significantly disrupted their personal and professional lives.

“He has been punitively and unreasonably punished for the last three years as he was forced to navigate the criminal justice system and the fallout from these allegations, which were publicly broadcast nationally and internationally,” Jalota’s lawyer said in a statement provided to Canadian media.

Other defendants face proceedings

In 2024, Peel Regional Police announced a series of arrests and charges in connection with what was described as Canada’s largest gold theft.

Earlier this year, a Canadian court sentenced one man to four years in prison for helping plan the theft. Another man received a 160-month sentence in the United States after pleading guilty to conspiring to traffic firearms illegally, according to the US Department of Justice.

That man was stopped by police in Pennsylvania with 65 handguns in his car. Canadian police alleged that money from the gold heist was used to purchase the weapons.

Two other accused people are due to face separate trials later this year on charges related to conspiracy to commit theft. Both have pleaded not guilty.