The History of Mississauga's Great Gold Heist

From The Globe and Mail - Sept 26, 1952

To quote the late baseball great Yogi Berra, or John Fogarty, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

When the news came down on April 23, 2023 of the massive gold heist at Pearson International Airport here in Mississauga that had (and has) police and airport security scrambling for answers, many in the local history community were drawn to thinking about an eerily similar caper from 1952.

On September 24, 1952 a shipment of gold flew out from the Malton airport for Montreal. Airport security discovered that only four of the ten boxes of gold arrived in Montreal. The stolen goods were valued at $215,000. And it remains unsolved.

Malton officials were initially unaware that a robbery had occurred. It had seemingly been a normal Wednesday evening, and no one had suspected any wrongdoings. The plane left at 8:33 pm and arrived in Montreal at 10:43 pm. Airport security initially suspected the gold was either lost in the cargo facility or loaded onto the wrong plane. This gave the culprits ample time to execute their getaway. When it became obvious that a robbery had in fact occurred, the RCMP, Provincial police, Toronto Township police, and Canadian National Express officers become involved.

From The Globe and Mail, Sept 26, 1952

Investigators did not understand why such a valuable shipment was not checked before boarding at Malton. An official claimed that, “Someone on the inside fingered the job”. Airport employees were interrogated as to their exact movements that day. The gold had arrived by an armoured van and was put into a cage in the express shed at Malton at 4:46 pm. Air express official Deny Mann signed for the shipment and the door to the eight-foot cage was locked. At 8:03 pm, Howard Halpenny took the gold from the shed towards the plane. He then fetched the mail, which left the truck unattended for a few minutes. When he returned, he found the gold already loaded onto the plane. Not realizing the valuable nature of the cargo, nor how many boxes were supposed to be loaded, investigators could not pin Halpenny to the crime. The only thing the police knew for certain was that the heist must have involved at least two men. The boxes weighed eighty-eight pounds each, making them no easy task to steal.

The news of the robbery quickly spread internationally. The Daily Boston Globe reported that police in New York, New England, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania were all told to watch for Canadian gold being traded.

From Toronto Daily Star - October 10, 1952

What made this case so perplexing was the fact that there were many conflicting beliefs as to what had occurred. There were reports that the criminals had smuggled the gold out of the country to sell on the American black market. Since all the planes operating in the airfield had been thoroughly checked, investigators believed that the offenders must have used a getaway car or truck. There was a publicly accessible road just feet away from the cargo shed, making this a likely theory.

From Toronto Star - Sept 26, 1952

But there were no suspects. With no leads, the case eventually went cold. Interestingly, three years later, The Globe and Mail reported that the gold may have been taken by the “Chinese reds” (communists). The press essentially created a scapegoat for this crime. The news report stated that the gold had been flown on private aircraft to New York and then Hong Kong. This was not a surprising accusation since anti-Asian sentiments had been commonplace in Canada for some time. It is noteworthy that The Globe and Mail printed this prejudicial idea without proof, especially since police had already explained that a getaway car was more likely. The most widely believed theory is that the gold was stolen in a high-speed heist while Halpenny fetched the mail, but nothing is known for certain. The gold, and the culprits, have never been found.

From Toronto Daily Star - Sept 26, 1952

Pearson International Airport has since replaced the old Malton Airport. Over time, this robbery has largely been forgotten.

Until something happens that brings the story to the surface again …

Heritage Mississauga is delighted to share the news that a new book will be available soon: “Mississauga Confidential: Murder, Scandal and Crime from the City’s Darker Side” by Bryan Ho and Nicole Mair. The story of the 1952 gold heist, and 23 other tales from Mississauga’s criminal past, are highlighted in this highly anticipated book that has been many years in the making! The book will be officially launched at Heritage Mississauga’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, May 31. Stay tuned for more information!

Special thanks to Alexandra Rayner, Bryan Ho and Nicole Mair for this article.