Air Canada has fired back in a lawsuit by security firm Brink鈥檚, saying the airline bears no responsibility for the daring theft of $23.8 million in gold and cash from its facilities at Toronto鈥檚 Pearson airport earlier this year.

A thief walked walked away with the costly cargo after presenting a phoney document at an Air Canada warehouse on April 17, according to the Brink鈥檚 filing last month.

In a Nov. 8 statement of defence, Air Canada rejected 鈥渆ach and every allegation鈥� in the Brink鈥檚 suit, saying it fulfilled its carriage contracts and denying any improper or 鈥渃areless鈥� conduct.

The country鈥檚 largest airline goes on to say that Brink鈥檚 failed to note the value of the haul on the waybill 鈥� a document typically issued by a carrier with details of the shipment 鈥� and that if Brink鈥檚 did suffer losses, a multilateral treaty known as the Montreal Convention would cap Air Canada鈥檚 liability.

鈥淏rink鈥檚 Switzerland Ltd. elected 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 Air Canada鈥檚 knowledge, elected not to insure these shipments,鈥� the Air Canada filing reads, adding that Brink鈥檚 was 鈥渇ully aware of the consequences.鈥�

In Federal Court filings last month that claim breach of contract and millions of dollars in damages, Brink鈥檚 said an 鈥渦nidentified individual鈥� gained access to the airline鈥檚 cargo warehouse and presented a 鈥渇raudulent鈥漺aybill shortly after an Air Canada flight from Zurich landed at Pearson.

The statement of claim says staff then handed over 400 kilograms of gold in the form of 24 bars 鈥� currently worth about $21.1 million 鈥� plus nearly US$2 million in cash to the thief, who promptly 鈥渁bsconded with the cargo.鈥�

Even the cash 鈥� it converts to nearly $2.7 million Canadian 鈥� weighed a bundle, with the banknotes registering more than 53 kilograms.

The suit claims Air Canada was 鈥渘egligent鈥� and failed to follow through on 鈥渁ppropriate security measures鈥� to prevent theft of the goods.

A pair of Swiss companies 鈥� precious metals refinery Valcambi SA and retail bank Raiffeisen Schweiz 鈥� contracted Brink鈥檚 to provide security and logistics for the shipment and compensate them for any losses, according to the Brink鈥檚 suit. The gold was bound for Toronto-Dominion Bank, while the cash was en route to the Vancouver Bullion and Currency Exchange.

Brink鈥檚 arranged in mid-April for Air Canada to haul the cargo to Toronto from Switzerland. It was delivered at Pearson just before 4 p.m. on a drizzly Monday, deposited at a glass-walled Air Canada warehouse on site at 5:50 p.m. and retrieved by the mysterious thief, who showed up 42 minutes later, the filings state.

Because Brink鈥檚 failed to pay an extra fee or a make a 鈥渟pecial declaration of interest in delivery,鈥� Air Canada is not liable for losses, the statement of defence claims, citing the Montreal Convention, which applies to international flights.

However, the Brink鈥檚 filing argues that it did pay a premium and the waybills were clearly marked as 鈥渂anknotes鈥� and 鈥済oldbars,鈥� on top of a warning on the paperwork: 鈥淪pecial supervision is requested. Valuable cargo.鈥� The Montreal Convention thus imposes no ceiling on the sum it can recover from the carrier, according to Brink鈥檚.

A police investigation is ongoing, with no arrests so far and the shipments still missing.

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