Canada prosecutors drop charges against two in Toronto gold heist
Amit Jalota and Ali Raza had their charges dismissed while other cases related to the massive 2023 theft continue through the courts.
Canada prosecutors drop charges against two in Toronto gold heist
In 2024, Peel Regional Police announced a series of arrests and charges tied to the heist. Charges against two of the men named have now been dropped.
Canadian prosecutors have withdrawn charges against two men accused of involvement in a huge gold heist in Toronto in 2023.
Amit Jalota and Ali Raza both had their charges withdrawn last week.
More than 6,500 gold bars, valued at C$20m ($14.5m/£11.6m), were taken from Toronto Pearson Airport in April 2023, along with millions in cash. A year later, police announced a series of arrests connected to what was the largest gold theft in the country's history.
Lawyers for both men told Canadian media that their clients had long said they were innocent and were relieved to be able to move on with their lives.
The lawyers said the dropped charges had turned their lives and livelihoods upside-down.
Both men were accused of possessing either stolen gold or currency linked to the crime.
"He has been punitively and unreasonably punished for the last three years as he was forced to navigate the criminal justice system and the fall out of these allegations that were publicly broadcasted both nationally and internationally," Jalota's lawyer said in a statement provided to Canadian media.
The heist took place inside a cargo facility at the airport after the goods arrived on an Air Canada flight from Zurich, Switzerland.
Police allege that someone gained access to the goods by presenting a fake airway bill - a document that accompanies shipped items.
A truck was then used to steal the gold, which weighed about 400kg (881lb), police said.
Earlier this year, one man was sentenced to four years by a Canadian court for helping plan the theft.
Another man was sentenced to 160 months in prison after pleading guilty in the US to conspiring with others to illegally traffic firearms, according to the US Department of Justice.
He was stopped by police in Pennsylvania with 65 handguns in the trunk of his car. Canadian police alleged that money for the guns came from the heist.
Two other accused will face separate trials later this year on charges related to conspiracy to commit theft. Both have said they are not guilty.