Latest news with #FreedomMobile
Bloomberg
10 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Globalive Bid for Canada's Wealth One Bank Wins Federal Approval
Freedom Mobile founder Anthony Lacavera's investment firm won federal approval to acquire Wealth One Bank of Canada. Globalive led a consortium of Canadian investors to buy all the issued and outstanding shares of the digital bank, founded in 2016. The government of Canada approved the transaction, Globalive said in a statement Wednesday, and the deal is expected to be completed 'within weeks.'
Hamilton Spectator
16-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Girlfriend identifies alleged ‘hitman' in surveillance videos
Surveillance video from the Monte Carlo Inn in Vaughan in December 2018 shows Abdelaziz Ibrahim, his then-girlfriend Breanna Lefneski testified Thursday at the John Sopinka Courthouse. Assistant Crown attorney Elise Quinn previously told a jury that Ibrahim — who is now dead — was the alleged 'hitman' that shot Marko Bakir five times in the driveway of his west Mountain home on Nov. 22, 2018. Alessandro Giammichele is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Bakir, 31. He has pleaded not guilty. Quinn previously told the jury of eight men and four women that while Giammichele didn't physically pull the trigger, he played a 'fundamental role' in the killing. In 2018, Bakir, who had recently been awarded a $362,000 settlement following a motorcycle crash, lent Giammichele $100,000 to invest, Quinn previously told the jury. The loan came with a contract and repayment schedule — but Giammichele didn't pay it back. Lefneski was shown numerous video clips of Ibrahim in the hotel from between Dec. 17 and Dec. 24, 2018, identifying him in each. Earlier Thursday, the court heard from York Regional Police Det. Deb Gilmour, who testified she collected the Dec. 17-24 surveillance footage from the hotel. Assistant Crown attorney Amber Lepchuk showed the court the video clips of Ibrahim, directing the jury to watch how he walked and moved his arms. Gilmour testified the man in the video walked 'pigeon-toed' and said his right hand, when empty, 'swung more' than his left side. Lefneski told the jury she had a romantic relationship with Ibrahim, who she called 'Zezo,' until he died in 2022. Now 25, Lefneski testified she purchased Ibrahim a phone in her name in June 2018. She said she bought him the phone because he needed one and he didn't have a credit card to finance it. In addition, she said she did not know anyone else who used the phone and that she would call him at that number. Lefneski testified Ibrahim did not have a car and relied on Uber, taxis or friends to get around. However, under cross-examination by defence lawyer Susan Pennypacker, Lefneski admitted Ibrahim had a driver's licence and said she had seen him drive his sister's car. Pennypacker contended a video played for the court of Ibrahim appears to show him in the driver's seat of a vehicle and Lefneski agreed it could be. Lefneski told the jury she was unaware that Ibrahim received a ticket in 2018 for driving with a suspended licence and didn't recall him driving a Volkswagen Passat. Earlier Thursday, the court heard from Gord Kent from Freedom Mobile, Lefneski's cellphone provider. Kent testified cellphones will usually — but not always — connect to the closest cell tower, which can be used to indicate the general location of the phone in question. Kent testified that on Nov. 22, 2018 — the day of Bakir's murder — Ibrahim's phone registered to Lefneski pinged a tower at 101 Swayze Rd. in Hannon between 4:38 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. That is the furthest east Freedom Mobile tower in the Hannon area, Kent said. Then, Kent told the jury, at 5:51 p.m. Ibrahim's phone pinged a tower on Kendale Court, near Bakir's home. At 8:02 p.m. Nov. 22, the phone connected with a tower on Upper Wellington Street. At 8:16 p.m., the phone again pinged a tower on Kendale Court for a phone call, before using data for 60 seconds at the same tower at 8:17 p.m. Ibrahim's phone then pinged a tower on Mohawk Road West at 8:17 p.m., before connecting to towers in Ancaster and Brantford. Kent told the court it would be 'highly unlikely' for a phone to be in Hamilton and connect with a tower in Brantford. During cross-examination by defence lawyer Kendra Stanyon, Kent agreed the phone appears to have also connected with the Kendale Court tower on other dates — including Oct. 24, Oct. 29, Nov. 23 and Dec. 23. The court also heard Thursday from Amy Weller from Rogers, who said Bakir's phone with Chatr Mobile had an outgoing call on Nov. 22 at 8:07 p.m. for 33 seconds that pinged a tower on Kendale Court Following that, at 8:37 p.m., a call was sent to voice mail — and all other calls after that went to voice mail, too. She also testified about another Chatr phone registered to 'Bob Marley' at '420 Fake St., Brantford.' She noted Chatr phones are prepaid, so no credit checks are required — meaning no name or address verification is done. Weller said there are no calls or texts between Bakir's phone and 'Bob Marley' and told the jury there is an outgoing call from the Marley phone at 8:13 p.m. which pinged a cell tower in Brant County on Governor's Road. Weller said while she had not seen a map of cell towers between Hamilton and Brantford, due to the 40-kilometre distance it is 'very unlikely' a phone located in Hamilton could ping a tower in Brantford. Under cross-examination by Stanyon, Weller said only calls and text messages appear in her data, Bakir and 'Bob Marley' could technically have been communicating on an app such as WhatsApp and it would not have shown up. The trial continues Friday.
