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Edmonton police confirmed Monday that notorious inner-city Edmonton landlord Abdullah Shah — who survived being shot in the head less than a year ago — was killed in a shooting in southwest Edmonton Sunday night.
Police are investigating the death as suspicious after finding Shah, 59, with life-threatening injuries outside his home in the Haddow neighbourhood.
According to a news release, police responded to a weapons complaint just before 10 p.m Sunday. Shah died in hospital after being rushed from the scene at his home in the area of Heath Road and Riverbend Road.
Shah, also known as Carmen Pervez, was head of a group that owned residential real estate in central Edmonton that many neighbours considered problem properties for many. One property, owned by an associate, was the scene of back-to-back drug-related homicides in 2017.
Extensive legal history
Shah was a convicted fraudster who had an extensive history with the legal system.
He was jailed in 2008 for his role in a $30-million mortgage fraud scheme that landed him a five-year prison sentence.
In December 2020, Shah was handed a 15-month conditional sentence, including eight months of house arrest, for pressuring associates in the Edmonton Remand Centre to carry out a “hit” on a former employee who allegedly stole tools and equipment.
During that hearing, defence lawyer Paul Moreau said Shah was “transitioning out” of the rental business after selling off the “majority of his portfolio.”
In 2019, police and Canada Revenue Agency agents executed a series of high-profile raids on a number of Shah’s properties that ultimately did not result in any charges. His lawyers called the investigation a “witch hunt.” Shah and several associates later won $250 each in legal costs from Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee over a news release identifying them as “persons of interest” in that investigation, with allegations including money laundering, drug trafficking and participation in a criminal organization.
Shah also made several complaints about police conduct, accusing EPS members of “harassment.” He had recently appealed the dismissal of a complaint he made against an Edmonton police officer, and a Law Enforcement Review Board hearing was set for later this week.
At the time of his death, Shah was facing several charges related to trafficking fentanyl in an unrelated case.
An autopsy is set for Friday.
Erika Norheim, Shah’s lawyer on a number of civil matters including his complaints against the Edmonton Police Service, said Shah provided housing and employment to people who she described as “the outcasts of society.”
“I know a lot of people don’t like him, but he really did have a lot of kindness (for) people that a lot of people were unkind to.”
At the time of his death, Shah and his associates operated a property management group called Home Placement Systems. A 2019 news release described Shah as a “dedicated advocate for housing reform,” while acknowledging his “reputation precedes him.”
“Shah has been an active figure in the community for approximately 20 years and during that time he has assisted persons with significant socio-economic challenges to secure housing, enrol in rehabilitation and mental health treatment, and complete successful reintegration into society,” the news release said. “In many instances, he does so to his detriment and financial loss.”
‘It was over pretty quick’
Multiple bullet holes were visible in the front window of a house on Heath Road on Monday, a suburban street lined with two-storey homes. A Ram truck parked in the driveway appears to have been shot at and the passenger-side window was shattered.
Sean Ryan said he heard the shots from his home nearby, but he didn’t see what happened. He knows of Shah from news reports, he added, but had never met him.
“It was over pretty quick. There was just the shots and then the police came a few minutes later,” he said.
Shah narrowly escaped death last summer when he was shot in the head by an unknown person. Shah was hospitalized after the Aug. 13 shooting, which occurred at a strip of commercial buildings on 111 Avenue, which were searched as part of the 2019 investigation
Around the same time, an Edmonton police detective’s remarkable claims about Shah were made public. In January 2021, Det. Dan Behiels, who had investigated Shah, told chief McFee that the landlord had developed “close knit relationships with senior EPS executive officers” that “effectively insulated (his) criminal organization from investigation and prosecution.”
An Edmonton police spokesperson said an investigation by the Calgary police anti-corruption unit found no evidence of wrongdoing. Behiels has since been suspended without pay. He also admitted to leaking material from his investigations to the CBC.
A few months after Behiel’s allegations became public, a man who figured prominently in Shah’s legal troubles admitted to threatening the former landlord. In December 2021, Clark Moukhaiber — an ex-employee of Shah’s who was the target of the Edmonton Remand Centre “hit” — pleaded guilty to threatening Shah on two occasions in 2019 and 2021.
Police investigating Shah’s death are appealing for dashcam footage from anyone who was driving in the area of Riverbend Road and Terwillegar Drive Sunday night between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. They’re also asking anyone with residential CCTV in the area to contact them.
Investigators are specifically looking to speak to a person who was driving a light-coloured Toyota 4Runner westbound on Heath Road Sunday at 9:54 p.m.
Anyone who may have information can contact police at 780-423-4567 or submit tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers.
Source: EdmontonJournal
