“I Did Everything for Nothing”: The Ringleader’s Testimony

There is a particular kind of arithmetic that follows a crime of spectacular ambition—the calculation of what was gained, what was lost, and what remains when the dust settles. For Arsalan Chaudhary, the man who admits he orchestrated one of the largest gold heists in Canadian history, that arithmetic has arrived at a figure that might have been predicted by anyone who has watched a fortune slip through fingers that grasped too tightly: nothing.

Chaudhary, 43, of Mississauga, took the stand Tuesday in a Brampton courtroom as a reluctant witness in the trial of Parmpal Sidhu, a former Air Canada employee accused of providing a doctored waybill that allowed the gold to be picked up from a Pearson airport cargo bay in April 2023 . The haul was staggering: 6,600 gold bars weighing more than 400 kilograms, valued at more than $22 million . Chaudhary has already pleaded guilty to theft over $5,000 and was sentenced this spring to four years in prison, with 40 years to pay back the restitution .

His testimony, delivered with what one reporter described as “casual confidence, almost a swagger,” painted a portrait of a man who planned the heist with an Air Canada insider he identified as Simran Preet Panesar, a wanted fugitive believed to be in India . They split the loot at a farm north of the airport, with Chaudhary taking 30 percent of the gold . He melted some of it and received $200,000 to $300,000 in cash, stashing the rest in a condo in the Greater Toronto Area .

Then he fled to Pakistan. What happened next, according to his testimony, reads like a second crime layered atop the first: he was kidnapped by men in police uniforms, blindfolded, tortured, and threatened with death . While in captivity, he was connected by FaceTime to his kidnappers’ colleagues in Canada. He told them where to find his gold and his cash. “I’ll give you everything,” he said he told them. “My life is worth more than any money” .

They took it all. When they released him, they pulled a hood over his head and told him to lie on the ground and count to thirty before looking up, or they would shoot . He counted. He got up. He walked to a family member’s home. “I was just thankful to be alive,” he testified, “and I wanted to get the F out of Pakistan ASAP” .

His testimony was jagged, peppered with claims of memory loss. He said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and was testifying only because he had been subpoenaed . The Crown’s case against Sidhu rests in part on Chaudhary’s account, though the witness’s credibility will be for the court to weigh. Sidhu has pleaded not guilty to theft over $5,000 and conspiracy .

The trial continues. For Chaudhary, the verdict is already in—not on Sidhu, but on himself. “All of this was not even worth it,” he said. “I destroyed people’s lives. I did everything for nothing” .

AI Image Disclaimer: The visual content in this article was generated using artificial intelligence for illustrative purposes only and does not depict the actual individuals or courtroom proceedings described.

Sources: National Post, CBC News, The Canadian Press, CityNews Winnipeg, Yahoo News Canada