ED raids house of Simran Preet Panesar, accused in Canada's ‘biggest' gold heist

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the house of and questioned Simran Preet Panesar, a 32-year-old former Air Canada manager, who is facing a Canada-wide warrant for his alleged role in the April 2023 gold robbery at the North American nation's Toronto Pearson International Airport. An ED team arrived at Simran Preet Panesar's residence at Sector 79 in Punjab's Mohali on Friday morning.

“Our teams are in the process of questioning him,” a senior ED officer said. The Indian Express earlier reported about Panesar living on the outskirts of Chandigarh. The ED, the central agency which probes financial crimes, has, in a rare instance of investigating a crime beyond India’s territorial boundaries, has launched a money-laundering probe into the case as the accused is now in India.

The idea, officers aware of the matter said, is to investigate if the gold or its proceeds made their way to the country. On April 17, 2023, fake paperwork was used to steal an air cargo container carrying gold bars, from a secure storage facility at the Toronto Pearson International Airport.