Canada’s $20-Mn Heist: ED Raids Suspect’s Home, Aims To Strike Gold With Khalistan, Arms Smuggling Probe | Exclusive
The ED raided the properties and premises of Simran Preet Panesar, one of the suspects in the case, on the outskirts of Chandigarh on Friday
In a fresh twist to the $20-million ‘Project 24Karat’, which the Canadian Police chargesheet has called the “largest gold heist in the history of Canada", the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now expanded its probe to look at weapon smuggling across the Canada-US border. The ED probe looks into the suspected Khalistani links and an alleged money laundering network in India.
The theft occurred at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in April 2023, as a gang of smugglers stole over 400 kg of gold.
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The ED, which registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on February 17 based on chargesheets from the US and Canadian Police in the gold and arms smuggling cases, has initiated a probe into weapon smuggling, with at least four Indian-origin suspects emerging in both the investigations. There are suspicions of links with ‘Khalistani militants’ as the gang was intercepted by the US police at the US-Canada border and was found to be carrying “65 illegal weapons, including 11 stolen, two fully automatic, and one with the serial number obliterated". News18 has accessed exclusive details and reviewed the related documents.
The ED raided the properties and premises of Simran Preet Panesar, one of the suspects in the case, on the outskirts of Chandigarh on Friday. It is also probing the trail of illicit funds, with investigators suspecting the use of shell companies and hawala routes to funnel money from the heist into illegal activities in India. The ED has taken Panesar and his wife to its zonal office to record their statement and for further interrogation.
#PRP investigation #Project24Karat was our response to a large-scale theft that occurred @ Pearson Airport. We have accounted for $10M in stolen cargo, charged/issued warrants for 9 individuals & laid 19 charges. Our message is clear – we will hold those responsible, accountable. pic.twitter.com/HfgFAQQbXe— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) April 17, 2024
MYSTERY AROUND COUPLE’S 2-YEAR STAY IN INDIA
Panesar, a Canadian citizen, fled to India shortly after the heist, evading arrest. While his presence in Punjab for over one-and-a-half years and his business activities were recently exposed, a source in the central agency said that there was “zero intervention" by local law enforcement (Punjab Police) despite multiple alerts from the Canadian authorities. News18 has learnt that Canada court documents also mentioned that Panesar fled to India.
Panesar’s wife Preet Kaur is also a Canadian citizen and a local singer. According to her Instagram account, where she introduced herself as ‘Canadian singer’, she has also won a beauty pageant — Miss India-Uganda.
According to the available documents, the heist bore the imprint of a high-level insider job which led authorities to Panesar, a former Air Canada employee. As per the reports, he allegedly played a key role in executing the crime.
WEAPONS, ‘KHALISTANI’ LINKS AND ED’S INTEREST
According to sources in the ED, the agency is digging deeper into the gold-money-weapons nexus, suspecting that the funds may have been diverted into arms smuggling networks with potential Khalistani links.
The agency has launched a full-scale probe into Project 24Karat and also reached out to international investigative bodies for deeper intelligence.
The seized weapons include highly sophisticated fully automatic and semi-automatic pistols. They include multiple variations and models of Glock, Walther, Slide Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer, and so on.
Investigators believe that a portion of the proceeds was parked overseas through shell companies, with funds routed via hawala transactions between Canada, Dubai and India. The Canadian and US documents mentioned that some of the accused fled to Dubai and India.
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