August 17, 2021
-CTV
EDMONTON — A notorious Edmonton landlord who was shot in the head Friday is in stable but critical condition.
Abdullah Shah, also known as Carmen Pervez, was shot at his office on 111 Avenue and 93 Street on Friday.
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) say it responded to a weapons complaint inside the building at approximately 5:30 p.m. The circumstances of the shooting remain under investigation, police add.
Shah’s lawyer confirmed to CTV News his client had been shot.
Officers are also investigating a suspicious death at the same crossroads as where Shah was shot.
Cheryl Sheppard, EPS spokesperson, told CTV News in a statement that the shooting remains under investigation, as well as the circumstances surrounding the suspicious death.
Sheppard added it is too early to say if there was a relationship between Shah and the deceased.
NOTORIOUS CENTRAL EDMONTON LANDLORD
Shah has been the subject of police and public scrutiny for years after owning dozens of inner-city rental properties that have been subjected to a number of raids and search warrants.
In 2019, EPS officers and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) officials executed search warrants at “multiple properties” throughout the city in relation to a six-month investigation into a “group of property owners that has allegedly been operating as a criminal organization.”
The landlord faced charges in connection to a drug bust that seized nearly $100,000 worth of methamphetamine and pills in March 2016. Those charges were dropped in 2018.
Paul Moreau, Shah’s lawyer, said at the time that his client’s past had made him a target for police.
“He provides housing for hard-to-house individuals and many community activists are strongly opposed to him,” Moreau said in 2018. “They enlist the help of the police and the police come after my client, and now it’s been demonstrated that they had no basis to do so because all the charges have been withdrawn.”
His criminal record stems back to 1983, including pleading guilty to 54 counts of fraud in a $30-million mortgage fraud case in 2008.
