The Flying Bandit, daring capers and the biggest gold heists in Canadian history

Ken Leishman masterminded Canada ’s biggest gold robbery in 1966 and engineered a prison break that involved fleeing in a stolen plane to the U.S. , where he was arrested.

His family struggled with poverty and cruel scorn while Ken was in prison.

He was a media darling, something of a folk hero. He was intelligent and charismatic.

Ken Leishman was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the first robbery of more than 360 kilograms of gold.

He succeeded in getting early parole and was released in December 1961 .

A second robbery attempt a few months later failed, and Ken was sent to Stony Mountain Penitentiary , where he was a model prisoner.

After his release, he moved his family to Red Lake , Ont ., where they ran a sporting goods store.

Air Canada was ultimately ordered by the Federal Court to pay Brink ’s transport just $18,600 in compensation for this loss because of poorly completely paperwork, Adrian Humphries reported in January of this year in the National Post . The airline, sued by Brink’s , had argued that Brink’s didn’t properly declare the shipment’s value. Ten people have been charged in the case, including a former Air Canada employee who quit his job three months after the robbery. The theft has been ranked as the sixth biggest gold robbery in history.

.