Toronto Airport Gold Heist
with Garth Sheriff CPA, CA, CFE, CIA, MAcc
Date: Tuesday, May 26
Time: 8:15 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
CPD: Up to 1 ethics hour
On April 17, 2023, approximately 6,600 gold bars and foreign currency valued at more than C$20 million were stolen from a cargo facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport in what has been described as Canada’s largest gold heist.
This case study examines how a sophisticated fraud scheme exploited document verification failures, segregation of duties breaches, and insider access within Air Canada’s cargo operations. Particular attention is given to the role of acting supervisor, who used authorized access to inventory systems and waybill printers to facilitate the theft.
Participants will analyze how a fraudulent waybill, created by altering a legitimate seafood shipment document, was used to remove approximately $15 million US in assets in just 53 minutes.
The session focuses on identifying control breakdowns, recognizing insider threat indicators, and applying fraud prevention strategies to safeguard high-value assets and reduce the risk of similar occupational fraud schemes.
Learning outcomes
- Identify document verification control weaknesses that enabled the Toronto airport gold heist and apply these lessons to prevent similar asset misappropriation schemes
- Evaluate segregation of duties violations and assess how multiple system access points create fraud opportunities in high-value asset handling processes
- Recognize insider threat indicators and analyze how employee access and knowledge can be exploited to facilitate occupational fraud