Second wave of extortions with transnational links sparks concern in South Asian community
'It seems to be different as far as the players that are involved, but some association and some linkages,' Laforce said.
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'I think our very first media release back then, we didn't, we weren't aware of all of those connections. Obviously, when things kind of like pop up across the country at the same time, there's something. So we definitely had our Spidey radar up but, but once we actually dove deeper, we are seeing connections across the country,' he said, citing similar outbreaks in Peel Region, Ontario (just west of Toronto) and British Columbia's Lower Mainland.
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Among the common threads, leveraging organized crime groups, street gang groups, and others 'radicalized to participate in that in that lifestyle,' Laforce said.
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An Indian citizen accused of being an absentee ringleader in the fleet of arson crimes and multi-millions of dollars in extortions targeted by Gaslight has a court date of August 1 — but he's still in Dubai, awaiting extradition to Canada.
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In 2024, Maninder Singh Dhaliwal, 35, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates on separate criminal charges.
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'Our provincial minister right now is in conversations. I know the federal minister 'It gets it gets complicated. I don't even know all of the complexities as you're dealing with national governments, right? And so they have different rules, and certainly nothing that they have to do based on what we might be asking of an external government to Canada … There's some nuances to it where it requires just a more complex negotiation, but definitely our government of Canada is certainly doing what they can in that space,' Laforce said.
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In country or not, Dhaliwal is slated for court appearance on Aug. 1 in the Court of King's Bench.
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He has an extensive court history in Alberta. Among the most recent, some 21 outstanding charges between October 2023 and July 2024 include extortion, arson, conspiracy to commit, discharging firearm with a criminal organization, break and enter of a dwelling.
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One woman and five other men were arrested on July 25, 2024 in connection with Gaslight.
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Asht Divnoor Singh, 20, was sentenced on 10 charges dating back as far as July 2024. They included extortion, arson of property, conspiracy to commit, and instructing a person to commit. He was sentenced in May to 54 months in prison at Bowden Institution. Less enhanced pre-trial credit of 454 days, he has 1,188 days to be served.
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Manav Heer, 20, faces 14 charges, including extortion, arson, conspiracy to commit, and unlawful use of an imitation firearm. Heer has pre-trial conference set for July 31 and an expected summary disposition on Aug. 1 in Court of King's Bench.
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Gurkaran Singh, 20, faces 13 charges including extortion, arson, conspiracy to commit, and instruction, dating back as far as November, 2023. Singh has pre-trial conference set for July 31 and arraignment on Aug. 1.
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Parminder Singh, 21, faces 17 charges dating as far back as October 2023, including extortion, conspiracy to commit, arson of property, discharge of a firearm criminal organization, possession of a prohibited/loaded weapon, assaulting a police officer with a weapon, pointing a firearm. He's set for pretrial conference on July 31 and arraignment on Aug. 1 in Court of King's bench.
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Related charges have been stayed in the cases against a male who couldn't be named because he was 17 years old at the time, and against Jashandeep Kaur, 20.
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The thing law enforcers have to fear may be fear itself, as underreporting by victims isn't helping in the battle against this newest crime trend.
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'It's like everything. The more information we have, it's easier for us to respond to. If we don't have all that information, it's hard for us to have a fulsome response,' Laforce said.
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According to a new EPS report, What We Are Hearing, crime reporting rates are low for some crimes in the past 12 months, with 70 per cent of victims reporting a personal crime, 58 per cent of victims reporting a property crime, and just 39 per cent of victims reporting a financial crime.
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'Obviously, when you're dealing with an extortion, they're preying on that fear of violence, right? When they have some definite violence that's actually occurring, there's, again, it's just really hyping up that fear,' Laforce said.
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While arsons are easier for police usually get 'plugged into' because they're hard to hide, extortions might fly under the radar, depending on how much people report them.
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'When we have somebody that's scared and they're seeing violence that's actually occurring, you know what? How can you blame them for being scared, right?' Laforce said.
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'So what we just have to say is, 'Listen, by communicating with us, it's not going to change any risks to you, but help give us some of that information so we can follow up investigatively to actually build in that public safety that's needed by actually holding these people accountable.'
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