Second man pleads guilty in Edmonton 'Project Gaslight' arson and extortion plot
Manav Singh Heer, 20, pleads guilty to arson, extortion and conspiring to commit extortion
Another man has admitted he was part of a criminal conspiracy targeting successful South Asian home builders in Edmonton with extortion, arson and drive-by shootings.
Manav Singh Heer, 20, pleaded guilty to arson, extortion and conspiring to commit extortion on Friday, about a year after he was among several others arrested in the Edmonton Police Service "Project Gaslight" investigation.
Heer admitted he was involved in arsons at homes owned by four local developers, as well as an incident where he shot an airsoft gun at a car where a private security guard was watching over one of the developer's homes.
He is the second person to plead guilty in the extortion scheme, which began in fall 2023 and continued into early 2024, with local home builders facing demands for cash, violent threats and torched properties.
Another young man pleaded guilty earlier this year, admitting he was a "middle manager" in the conspiracy, directing lower-level members, including Heer, about arson targets and reporting progress to higher-ups.
Three others, 21-year-old Parminder Singh, 20-year-old Gurkaran Singh and a youth who was 17 when he was arrested and can't be identified, are still before the courts. The charges they face have not been proven.
Alleged ringleader Maninder Dhaliwal is also facing charges, but he's in Dubai, where he allegedly orchestrated the scheme from abroad. Court heard Friday that he is still the subject of an extradition request to send him back to Canada from the United Arab Emirates.
Arson involvement
The details of Heer's role in the extortion plot were laid out in an extensive agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown prosecutor Breena Smith.
Heer was aware of threats against the home builders and demands for money, as well as shootings committed as part of the scheme.
In committing the arsons, "He was being paid by the syndicate for his work and he was knowingly doing these things at the direction of or for the benefit of the syndicate," Smith said.
One local business owner began receiving threatening messages, which didn't come from Heer, in October 2023. Court heard that a caller claimed to be a member of the Brothers Keepers gang and demanded $500,000, saying he "must have the money as he had a nice home and cars."
He subsequently received threats that his whole family would be killed and his house would be burned, with the caller describing the car sitting in his driveway and recounting "intimate details" of his life that seemed to be the result of surveillance.
After a drive-by shooting at his home where Parminder Singh was arrested, the developer received a text that said, "You want to play this stupid game? You call the cops, let's see how long you survive."
Heer was one of the people who set fire to one of the home builder's properties a few weeks later, in the early morning of Nov. 6, 2023.
He was involved in a subsequent attempted arson in Leduc where he and two others were chased off by a private security guard. And he was then part of an attack on a security guard's car where he shot and shattered the rear window of the vehicle as the guard drove away.
Other developers were targeted in the months that followed, with Heer admitting he was directly involved in some of the arsons, and had advance knowledge of others where he didn't participate.
According to the agreed facts, in one arson associated with the extortion plot in December 2023, the fire jumped to two neighbouring properties in the Cy Becker neighbourhood. Two adults and three children had to be evacuated from one of the homes.
A firefighter at the scene searching a house for occupants fell two storeys to the basement when the floor gave way. Court heard he was seriously injured and couldn't work for several weeks.
Cellphone, surveillance evidence
Police gathered evidence of Heer's involvement in the scheme from a wiretap, recorded Edmonton Remand Centre calls and material discovered on Heer's cellphone. In some cases, other alleged members of the conspiracy filmed the process of setting the homes on fire, and shared it with others in the group.
According to the agreed facts, in one group text, Heer said he was paid a little more than $1,000 for one of the arsons, and he continued to do it for the money.
In another group chat titled "Not Criminals," Heer and other members of the group talked about creating more "arson teams," getting guns and identifying more home builder targets.
A list of addresses associated with one developer was found in a note on Heer's cellphone, titled with fire emojis, and police found addresses where arsons took place searched and saved on his phone.
Police also discovered a web browser searches for home builders that were targeted as well as the phrase, "How much jail time facing for arsons."
Heer was caught several times on surveillance video in the area of arsons, often wearing a "distinctive" pair of red and white striped Nike sneakers that were seized after his arrest.
On Friday, Heer additionally pleaded guilty to a dangerous driving offence that took place within the same period as the Project Gaslight crimes on Nov. 25, 2023.
Court heard that Heer was driving his father's vehicle on James Mowatt Trail S.W., a road with a speed limit of 60 km/h, at 160km/h.
A woman driving with her seven-year-old son in the backseat was attempting to make a left turn in the intersection when Heer crashed into the car, with an EPS investigation finding the impact came at a speed of 124 to 137 km/h.
The woman and her son were both injured and taken to hospital, where the boy became unresponsive.
Court heard that he underwent emergency neurosurgery, but he was left with a severe traumatic brain injury. According to agreed facts read in that case, he's no longer ambulatory, and lost his vision and likely also his hearing. He will likely require full-time care for the rest of his life.
Heer's defence lawyer, Rahul Nanda, has requested a psychological assessment ahead of a sentencing date, which will be scheduled later.
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