Prosecutors drop charges against jeweller accused in Pearson airport gold heist
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Prosecutors have dropped the charges against a jeweller accused of knowingly receiving large amounts of gold stolen in a massive heist at Toronto’s Pearson airport.
In a brief court hearing Wednesday, Crown attorney Jelena Vlacic said they made the decision to stop the proceedings against Ali Raza after finding there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. Vlacic said the Crown’s reasons are covered under a publication ban and cannot be reported at this time.
Raza was charged alongside several others more than two years ago in relation to what police have called the largest gold heist in Canadian history.
His lawyer said the jeweller has maintained his innocence throughout the case.
The move came a day after the Crown withdrew charges against another man accused in the case.
A court document shows prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges of conspiracy to commit theft over $5,000, theft over $5,000 in gold and bank notes and unlawful possession of property knowing it was obtained by an indictable offence against Amit Jalota.
Jalota’s lawyer, Leora Shemesh, said her client has continued to profess his innocence while navigating the justice system for three years. Coverage of the case has negatively affected him and his family, all of whom have been denied service by financial institutions, she said in an email.
“People like Mr. Jalota don’t ever receive an apology or a public retraction,” Shemesh said.
“There is no commentary from the police publicly that they had gotten it wrong or that Mr. Jalota had done nothing wrong and was completely innocent. Instead, Mr. Jalota is forced to simply move on and pick up the pieces for himself and his family.”
This spring, a man who admitted his role in the heist was sentenced to four years in prison and given 40 years to pay back $22 million in restitution after pleading guilty to theft over $5,000.
Arsalan Chaudhary was arrested earlier in the year as he flew back from Dubai.
Police have said the heist involved a flight that arrived from Zurich, Switzerland on April 17, 2023, carrying a cargo shipment containing 400 kilograms of gold and about $2.5 million in foreign currency.
The items were reported missing from a separate area of Pearson airport the following day, investigators have said.
A jury trial is scheduled in a few weeks for the remaining accused.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2026.