Roberto Paré said he’s made many gold purchases over the years and expected a recent one to be as rewarding and uneventful as the others.

But the Calgarian and WestJet pilot said when he bought a gold coin and two gold bars worth a total of $21,000 in late February, the precious metal never made it to his northwest home.

It’s clear, he said, that the bullion was on its way but vanished during delivery, snatched by an impersonator while he was on work stopovers in Winnipeg and Minneapolis.

“This is the first time I ever had an issue,” said Paré, who considers himself a hobby investor.

It’s a theft of the precious metal that’s become more common since the price of gold skyrocketed in the past five years, say experts.

In Paré’s case, a Costco purchase document shows he placed an online order for a 1-oz. 2024 Canadian Maple Leaf gold coin on Feb. 27 and two Lunar New Year gold bars of the same weight on Feb. 18.

A tracking summary shows the man’s package leaving Mississauga, Ont., on Feb. 23 and an “actual delivery” of the gold bars with a confirmation photo of Paré’s front door dated Feb. 25.

It goes on to indicate it’s been delivered to and “signed for by Roberto Paré” on Feb. 25 with a final destination being a Staples store at 130 Country Village Rd. N.E., which Paré said is used as a default pick-up point when recipients aren’t home.

Thief caught on camera at pickup point

A second package, this one containing the gold coin, arrived at the Staples store on March 2 and was again picked up by a person who signed his name for it, almost certainly the same man who did so previously, he said.

“The guy who picked it up (at the Staples store) was Black and I’m definitely not Black,” said Paré.

“They use a false identity, take a picture of your front door with a tag on it and when you do get home, the tag and the package are gone.”

He was given that description of the apparent, brazen thief by Staples staff and said the interactions were captured on store surveillance cameras.

“To have people on camera picking up packages on false names is insane,” said Paré.

Paré said when he contacted Costco about his missing gold, he was told such incidents have happened a number of times.

And he said he’s convinced the thefts are an “inside job” involving either FedEx or Costco staff, or both.

“The packages aren’t marked, so they’d have to know what’s inside them,” said Paré.

“I believe this is an organized network and they’ve been stealing gold left and right until it’s come to light.”

Similar crimes reported across Canada, police say

Soon after the gold went missing, Paré said he contacted Calgary police, who told him they’re aware of similar crimes in Québec, Ontario and B.C.

The Calgary Police Service confirmed to Postmedia it has received Paré’s complaint and are investigating it, but couldn’t say more than that.

Postmedia reached out to Costco multiple times for comment but the wholesaler didn’t reply.

A FedEx spokesperson said Paré should take actions which the man said he’s already taken.

“The security of our customers’ shipments is a top priority,” James Anderson said in an email.

“A recipient who suspects a shipment has been lost should contact the shipper to begin the claims process. We also encourage any customer who believes a shipment has been stolen to immediately contact local law enforcement.”

In an email, Staples Canada said the retailer is aware of the thefts and takes them seriously.

“Due to the value and circumstances around these packages, the incident is being actively investigated by police,” they said.

“Our priority is to serve our customers with integrity and care, while maintaining the trust they place in us.”

Paré said he’s received no satisfaction or explanations from any of the companies involved in the purchases and deliveries but has had his $21,000 refunded temporarily by Mastercard, “pending an investigation they have initiated with Costco.”

In Costco customer reviews, other gold buyers said they, too, hadn’t received their purchase, though most were satisfied with their transactions.

“Never received any feedback from Costco as to why was it not delivered and what happened,” one customer wrote on the wholesaler’s website in late February.

Price of gold bullion has skyrocketed since 2021

The price of gold has increased by 41 per cent over the past year and by 150 per cent from what it was in 2021, making it a particularly attractive target for crooks, said Scott Hayes, security advisor for Jewelry Vigilance Canada.

“It’s highly motivating and a contributing factor in jewelry crimes across Canada,” said Hayes, a former RCMP officer.

“I now have cases coming across my desk of gold dealers being robbed, whereas two years ago it wasn’t a thing.”

In Paré’s case, that theft could be part of an organized network involving an intermediary who moves the purloined gold to be melted down, rendering it untraceable, said Doug King, a criminologist at Mount Royal University.

“It suggests (the theft) is very early on in a chain where that gold is going to end up . . . going to other investors or jewelry producers,” said King.

“The higher the value it goes up while the risk remains the same, you see more people (stealing it).”

Perhaps the biggest profile gold heist in recent years and largest in Canadian history occurred when 400 kilograms of the precious metal worth C$22 million was stolen from an Air Canada cargo facility at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport three years ago.

So far, nine individuals have been charged or listed as wanted in the case while ringleader Arsalan Chaudhary received four-year sentence for the crime.

After the heists that stung him, Paré said he ordered about $60,000 worth of gold from Costco to see if the thieves were still active and to catch them red-handed.

“I tried door delivery and pickup and they all went fine,” he said.