Court proceedings have begun against Punjabi-origin accused Parmpal Sidhu in connection with the historic theft of gold and foreign currency worth $22 million (around Rs 185 crore) from Toronto Pearson International Airport.
 

Prosecutors allege that Sidhu, a former Air Canada employee, misused his access to help facilitate the major theft and acted as an alleged “inside man” in the operation. Sidhu, however, has denied the charges of theft and conspiracy and has claimed that he is innocent.
 

During the hearing, prosecutor Jelena Vlasic told the court that a fake Air Waybill used in the April 2023 theft had been printed from Sidhu’s profile one day before the incident. The entire shipment was subsequently loaded onto a truck and disappeared.
 

According to the investigation, truck driver Durante King-McLean had arrived to steal the shipment. He later fled to the United States and was arrested in Pennsylvania in September 2023.
 

CCTV footage presented in the case showed a masked driver arriving with fake documents and leaving the airport within about an hour. The shipment reportedly contained 6,600 gold bars weighing more than 400 kilograms, which had arrived from Zurich, Switzerland.
 

The defence lawyers questioned whether someone else could have accessed Sidhu’s computer and also asked whether the handwriting on the document had undergone forensic examination. Investigators told the court that a handwriting examination could not be conducted because there was too little writing available for analysis.
 

The prosecution had earlier withdrawn the case against two other accused, Ali Raza and Amit Jalota. Another accused, Arsalan Chaudhary, has already been sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $22 million in compensation.
 

Meanwhile, another accused in the case, Archit Grover, is scheduled to face trial later this year. The proceedings against Sidhu will determine the allegations and evidence presented in relation to his alleged role in the major airport theft.