Full Breakdown
Pearson Gold Heist Trial: Witness Claims Amnesia as Case Against Parmpal Sidhu Continues
By Drooid · · How we work
Trial Developments and Witness Memory Loss
During a Superior Court hearing before Justice Gordon Cudjoe, self-confessed mastermind Arsalan Chaudhary, who is serving a four-year sentence at Maplehurst detention centre, asserted he could not recall details of the 2021 Pearson Airport gold theft. Chaudhary attributed his inability to testify to post-traumatic stress disorder, a three-week period without sleep or medication at Maplehurst, and alleged kidnapping and torture in Pakistan after the heist.
Background of the Pearson Gold Heist
In April 2023, a shipment of 400 kg of 99.9 % pure gold and cash, valued at $22.5 million, arrived from Zurich on a flight destined for Brinks. A white tractor-trailer driven by Durante King McLean presented a doctored waybill that re-classified the cargo as “fish” for a seafood company. The container was loaded onto the truck and taken to a rendezvous with Chaudhary.
Key Evidence and Court Proceedings
Prosecutors Jelena Vlacic and Tyler Powell asked Justice Cudjoe to consider Chaudhary’s guilty-plea statements, which confirmed three communications with Parmpal Sidhu on April 17, 2023, the day of the theft, and the use of Air Canada employee Simran Preet Panesar as an intermediary. Sidhu’s defence lawyer Shale Wagman challenged the admissibility of those statements, arguing they were self-serving and deflected attention from Sidhu’s brother.
Detective Sarah Angevine of Peel Regional Police testified that the doctored waybill bore Sidhu’s employee ID, but fingerprints and handwriting did not match him, and the warehouse printer’s security camera was non-functional that day. “So there’s no video evidence of Mr. Sidhu printing the bill or handling the bill?” — Shale Wagman, Sidhu’s defence lawyer
Sidhu, a customer-service representative who was on a dinner break during the heist, was arrested on April 5, 2024 after months of surveillance and wiretaps. His lawyer indicated no evidence would be called, focusing instead on cross-examination of police testimony.
Official Statements & Responses
Justice Cudjoe indicated the court would treat Chaudhary’s earlier guilty-plea admissions as evidence, but expressed doubt about the reliability of a text message allegedly sent by Sidhu because no phone number or corroborating proof was presented. Prosecutors emphasized additional circumstantial evidence remains, though no “smoking gun” has emerged.
Data & Statistics
- Value of stolen gold and cash: $22.5 million.
- Weight of gold: 400 kg of 99.9 % purity.
- Arrest date of Parmpal Sidhu: April 5, 2024.
- Date of Chaudhary’s recorded communications with Sidhu: April 17, 2023.
Closing submissions are scheduled for next month.