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Thief used phony document in $20M gold heist, lawsuit against Air Canada says

Brink’s Inc. is suing Air Canada over a $20-million gold heist at Toronto’s Pearson airport last spring.

In court filings, the American security company says an unidentified individual gained access to one of the airline’s cargo warehouses on April 17 and presented a fraudulent waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with details on the shipment — to Air Canada personnel.

The lawsuit, filed in Federal Court on Friday, claims staff then handed over 400 kilograms of gold plus nearly US$2 million in cash to the thief, who promptly left with the shipment.

The suit says the country’s largest airline was negligent and failed to follow through on appropriate security measures to prevent theft of the cargo, valued at roughly $22 million in total.

Air Canada declined to comment on the matter, which has not been tested in court, as it proceeds through the legal system.

The Brink’s statement of claim says a pair of Swiss companies — precious metals refinery Valcambi SA and retail bank Raiffeisen Schweiz — contracted it to provide security and logistics for the pricy packages and compensate them for any losses.