(Montreal) Air Canada says it will take no responsibility for the audacious theft of $23.8 million in gold and cash from its Toronto Pearson airport facility earlier this year.
The airline is facing a lawsuit from security services company Brink’s after a thief left an Air Canada warehouse with the massive cargo on April 17.
In a Nov. 8 statement of defense, Air Canada rejected all allegations in Brink’s lawsuit, saying it had complied with its contract of carriage and denying any reckless or improper conduct.
The nation’s largest airline adds that Brink’s did not note the value of the shipment on the waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with shipment details — and that if Brink’s suffered losses, a treaty multilateral agreement known as the Montreal Convention would limit Air Canada’s liability.
“Brink’s Switzerland has chosen, for its own reasons, not to declare a value for carriage and to pay the standard rate for the AC Secure services product and, to the knowledge of Air Canada, has chosen not to ensure these shipments,” Air Canada’s filing says, adding that Brink’s was “fully aware of the consequences.”
In a filing last month in federal court, Brink’s said an unidentified individual gained access to the airline’s cargo warehouse and presented false documents approximately 40 minutes after Pearson landed at Pearson. an Air Canada flight from Zurich.
The statement said staff then handed over 400 kilograms of gold in the form of 24 bars – currently worth around 21.1 – plus almost 2 million in cash to the thief, who quickly fled with the cargo.
Even cash – which is equivalent to almost 2.7 million – weighed heavily, with notes weighing more than 53 kilograms.
The suit claims Air Canada was “negligent” and failed to take “appropriate security measures” to prevent the theft of the goods.
Two Swiss companies – precious metals refinery Valcambi SA and retail bank Raiffeisen Switzerland – hired Brink’s to provide security and logistics for the shipment and compensate them for any losses, according to the complaint filed by Brink’s. The gold was destined for the Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank, while the cash was on its way to the Vancouver Bullion and Currency Exchange.
In mid-April, Brink’s asked Air Canada to transport the shipment from Switzerland to Toronto. The merchandise was delivered to Pearson Airport just before 4 p.m. on a rainy Monday, dropped off at 5:50 p.m. in a glass-enclosed Air Canada warehouse on site and picked up by the mysterious thief, who showed up 42 minutes later, the filings show.
Because Brink’s did not pay additional fees or make a “special declaration of interest in delivery,” Air Canada is not responsible for the losses, the defense claims, citing the Montreal Convention, which applies to international flights.
However, Brink’s filing argues that he actually paid a premium and that the waybills were clearly marked as “bank notes” and “gold bars”, in addition to a disclaimer on the documents: ” Special monitoring is required. “Valuable cargo”. The Montreal Convention thus imposes no ceiling on the amount that it can recover from the carrier, according to Brink’s.
A police investigation is underway. No arrests have been made so far and the shipments remain missing.