Latest news with #TalalFouani
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
Calgary man admitted to being ‘reckless in his knowledge' as he laundered $800K
The Calgary Courts Centre pictured in Calgary, Monday, May 6, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh A Calgary man targeted in a large-scale investigation into organized crime, drugs and money laundering has admitted to funnelling the better part of a million dollars. According to an agreed statement of facts put before a Calgary court this week, Talal Fouani used his business accounts to launder about $800,000. Fouani, along with his brother and sister, was arrested in December 2022 and charged with money laundering, possession of proceeds of crime and participation in a criminal organization. They were not the main targets of the investigation but were alleged to have criminal involvement with those individuals. In May 2023, Fouani pleaded guilty to money laundering, and the charges against his family members/business partners were withdrawn. In September 2024, proceedings against the main targets of the investigation were stayed. On Tuesday, the better part of a year after Fouani's guilty plea, the agreed statement of facts put before the court outlined what he admitted. Fouani admitted to moving $1.6 million in relation to a real estate deal involving one of the investigation's main targets between July 2020 and February 2021. Of that, he admitted $800,000 was laundered and likely ill-gotten. He said he was 'reckless in his knowledge that the cash was likely proceeds of crime.' Fouani will be back in court on Sept. 29 to set a date for sentencing. The sentencing date itself will likely land in October or November, the Crown has said. 2022 shooting in Evergreen In August 2022, Fouani and his wife, Nakita Baron, were shot while inside their vehicle in the driveway of their southwest Calgary home. Fouani suffered life-threatening injuries. Baron died in the attack. Police said at the time they believed the pair were targeted. Michael Tyrel Arnold, a Sherwood Park man, has been found guilty of second-degree murder for Baron's death and attempted murder for Fouani's shooting.
CBC
4 days ago
- CBC
Calgary money launderer admits to funnelling $800k to leader of organized crime syndicate
A Calgary man whose wife was killed in an attack that left him with a gunshot wound to the face has finally admitted to helping the leader of an organized crime syndicate launder more than $800,000. Talal Fouani, 48, was charged in June 2022, in connection with a massive, cross-border drug trafficking operation dubbed Project Cobra, involving Mexican cartels. Police seized more than 800 kilograms of methamphetamine and cocaine worth about $55-million in four separate drug busts. When Fouani pleaded guilty to money laundering in March 2023, he entered the plea but did not agree to any facts of the crime. A conviction was never entered, marking just one instance of what Justice Greg Stirling has called an "unusual" feature of the case. On Tuesday, Fouani agreed to the facts surrounding his crime and an agreed statement of facts (ASF) was filed with the court. The matter can finally proceed to sentencing later this year. A total of 14 people were charged in the Cobra investigation, with police identifying five as their "main targets": the alleged leader Ricco King, as well as Elias Ade, Kary-Lynn Grant, Jarret Mackenzie and Abdul Akbar. Murder Two months after the organized crime charges were laid, Fouani and his wife had just gotten into their Bentley outside their southwest home when Michael Arnold walked up to the driver's side window in a construction vest and shot them both. Nakita Baron died, Fouani was injured. Earlier this year, Arnold was convicted of murder in that shooting. Although prosecutors believe Fouani was the target because of his organized crime connections, no solid links have ever been made. At trial, Arnold refused to answer the prosecutor's question of "who hired you?" Co-accused charges stayed Fouani was not a main target of the Project Cobra investigation but was the first to act on his charges. Seven months after Baron was killed, Fouani pleaded guilty to money laundering. But the case has dragged on for more than two years. Before a sentencing hearing could take place, Fouani's original lawyer filed a dozen applications, most of which went nowhere but had the effect of delaying the case. Fouani eventually fired that lawyer. Eighteen months after Fouani pleaded guilty, the Crown stayed all charges against the five main targets who faced the most serious charges, including drug trafficking and importation, money laundering and organized crime offences. "The Crown stated on the record that stays were due to delays in the proceedings in Federal Court which were going to cause delays for the criminal trials," reads the agreed statement of facts (ASF) filed as part of Tuesday's hearing. Wiretaps Earlier this year, Fouani expressed feelings of torment and injustice at his co-accused's dropped charges. "Everyone else has gotten away with everything," Fouani said in May. The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) initiated the investigation, which involved surveillance and covert interceptions, in 2019. Intercepted communications between the main targets moved drugs from the U.S. to Canada, setting up logistics involving handlers, truck drivers and trucks using King's contacts and suppliers in California, according to the ASF. Fouani came onto investigators' radar after he was observed meeting with the main targets. $3.5 million home The money laundering investigation involved surveillance, covertly entering Fouani's office and obtaining banking, financial, tax records as well as FINTRAC Disclosures and forensic analysis of Fouani and his businesses. In the agreed statement of facts, Fouani admitted to laundering money for King through the purchase of a $3.5-million property in Niagara in 2020. Fouani has admitted that between July 2020 and February 2021, he funnelled about $1.6 million through his accounts to King, his business and his realtor. According to Fouani, a portion of the cash funnelled to King was a loan, made possible by the sale of Fouani's bitcoin wallet. "Fouani admits that approximately $800,000 of the cash funnelled to the benefit of King was not from the sale of bitcoin, but was cash received from Ade, on behalf of King, to be funnelled through the Fouani accounts," reads the ASF. "Fouani admits these transactions to be money laundering on behalf of King, and he was reckless in his knowledge that the cash was likely proceeds of crime." 'We can assist' Fouani also created fraudulent paperwork for King's mortgage brokerage claiming that the cash came from a legitimate source, according to the ASF. Included in the agreed facts was a transcription of a portion of intercepted communications, between, among others, Fouani, Ade and Mackenzie. "These gentlemen here have come to us for a little bit of help, they've gotten into some issues …we can't be in the middle of what's about to go down but we can assist," said Fouani. "I've tried to paper it up as much as we can, with his corporation of course, so we do have a case if we need to hire a lawyer down in Toronto." The ASF also includes a photo of a box of $200,000 in cash, sent from Fouani's cellphone. It came three weeks after Ade was photographed handing Fouani a box in a parking lot. Police also recovered fraudulent payroll slips for August to October 2020 for Ade as an employee of Fouani Investments, with a salary of $15,000 per month. In October 2021, police also recorded a conversation that took place in Fouani's office between Fouani, Ade, Mackenzie, and King, during which the four discussed the paperwork for a building project they'd invested in together.
CBC
02-05-2025
- CBC
Warrants issued for organized crime money launderer who may have tried to flee Canada
Social Sharing A Calgary man awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to laundering money for organized crime may have tried to flee the country. Warrants have been issued for his arrest. Talal Fouani pleaded guilty more than two years ago but has not been sentenced yet as his matter drags through the court process. In August 2022, just after he was charged with money laundering, Fouani and his wife were sitting in their Bentley when a man walked up to the vehicle and shot both. Nakita Baron died, Fouani was injured but survived. Michael Tyrel Arnold, who is from Edmonton, was convicted of murder and attempted murder following a trial earlier this year. Fouani believes the shooting was related to his charges before the court. On Friday, Fouani was supposed to appear in court but did not show up. 'He may have made an attempt to leave Canada' Federal prosecutor Shelley Tkatch asked Justice Karim Jivraj to issue a warrant for Fouani's arrest. "Normally, Mr. Fouani has been very diligent in showing up," said Tkatch. "I have received some information that he may have made an attempt to leave Canada a few weeks ago." Jivraj granted the Crown's request and issued the warrants. Fouani no longer has a lawyer. Yoav Niv, his first lawyer, got off record after the judge denied an application to recuse himself. At the time, Fouani told the court he was broke after paying Niv $500,000 in legal fees. Co-accused's charges stayed Fouani and his second lawyer, Greg Dunn, recently parted ways. The case was back in court Friday so the judge could be updated on whether Fouani has found a new lawyer to represent him at a three-day sentencing hearing set to take place in August. Fouani's convictions related to a police investigation into a massive, cross-border drug trafficking operation involving Mexican cartels. At the time charges were laid, police said the $55-million drug bust involving nearly one metric tonne of methamphetamine and six kilograms of cocaine was the largest ever in Alberta. Last September, just weeks before Fouani's Jordan hearing, the Crown stayed the charges faced by his co-accused, including the alleged leader of the organized crime syndicate, Ricco King.
