Air Canada ordered to pay Brink’s over $18K for $20M gold stolen at Toronto Pearson

The Federal Court has ordered Air Canada to pay security company Brink’s over $18,000 for the gold shipment worth $20 million stolen at Toronto Pearson in 2023.

The Federal Court has ordered Air Canada to pay security company Brink’s over $18,000 for the gold shipment worth $20 million stolen at Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2023.

Judge Cecily Strickland handed her decision this week, stating Air Canada’s liability for the loss of the stolen shipment is limited to the amount prescribed under the Montreal Convention - a multilateral treaty that establishes airline liability in cases of delay, damage or loss of baggage and cargo as well as death or injury to passengers.

Thus, Strickland ordered Canada’s largest airline to pay a total amount of 9,988 special drawing rights (SDR), equivalent to around $18,500.

Brink’s was seeking reimbursement for the full value of the shipment plus special damages.

The company was hired to provide security and logistic services for the transportation of the shipment that arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport on April 17, 2023.

However, by the time Brink’s showed up at Air Canada’s cargo facility, where the shipment of 6,600 gold bars worth $20 million and about $2.5 million in foreign currency were offloaded after arriving from Zurich, it was gone.

Peel police have since charged 10 people in the heist, including a former and current Air Canada employee. Their investigation revealed one suspect presented an Air Canada employee with a fraudulent airway bill to access the valuable shipment. After being loaded into a truck, the suspect drove off with the gold bars.

WATCH: Video shows Pearson airport heist suspect taking off with more than $22M in gold, cash

Brink’s filed a lawsuit after Air Canada failed to respond to its written notice of the loss the company sustained.

Brink’s alleged the airline allowed an unidentified individual to walk away with gold and millions in cash after presenting personnel with a fraudulent waybill. The company claimed staff accepted the fraudulent document without “verifying its authenticity in any way.”

Air Canada rejected the claim, saying it fulfilled its carriage contract and denying careless or improper conduct.

In her ruling, Stickland stated Brink’s failed to satisfy the requirements necessary to engage the higher limit of liability permitted under the Montreal Convention.

“Brink’s did not establish that it made a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination for the shipments,” Judge Strickland wrote in her ruling. She added that the security company also failed to establish that it paid a supplementary amount to Air Canada for special supervision of the shipment.

Police have said that some of the stolen gold bars were likely melted down in the basement of a jewelry store in the Toronto area.

The only gold investigators recovered from the heist had been melted down and fashioned into six bracelets worth $89,000.

With files from Codi Wilson and The Canadian Press