Developer survives ambush
Police say gunman targeted Strategic Group CEO Mamdani
An upscale Calgary neighbourhood remains in shock, after millionaire real estate developer Riaz Mamdani was ambushed and shot outside his Mount Royal home Monday.
Calgary police were called just after 8 a.m. to the front of a house in the 2200 block of 7th St. S.W. where they found a man inside a car suffering from gunshot wounds. Mamdani, chief executive and founder of the real estate investor Strategic Group, was identified as the victim by a company spokeswoman, who said he is in stable condition.
Police said in a release Monday afternoon that the shooting was likely targeted, though an exact motive is not known.
“The shooter definitely knew where he was and who he was going after,” Staff Sgt. Travis Baker said. “I don’t know what the motive was at this point, but we believe that the shooter knew where he was and what he was doing.”
Investigators are searching for a suspect described only as “a male wearing a bright orange jacket.”
A Rolls-Royce Phantom with front-end damage and bullet holes through the windshield was cordoned off by police in front of the Mamdani home, among the most valuable homes in Calgary.
“As for the damage to the front of the vehicle, we believe that was a result of the victim hitting the gas pedal and running into a stationary object,” Baker said.
“I believe it was a barricade of some sort.”
Baker said Mamdani was in the driver’s seat of the vehicle and suffered multiple injuries. At least one other person was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, but Baker would not comment on that person’s relationship to Mamdani.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he personally knows Mamdani, who moved to Canada from Uganda, and noted his philanthropic efforts.
“He and his family are incredibly important to this city and have done great things to try and give back to this country that had given them so much,” Nenshi said. “All of our thoughts and prayers are with Riaz and his family today and I know he’s going to pull through.”
Pat Moore heard the shots from her home across the street.
“I heard bang, bang, bang; that was it,” Moore said. “And it sounded like gunshots to me, although I’m not familiar with gunshots ... I asked my husband if he was OK. It sounded just below our house.”
Looking out her upstairs window, Moore could see several police vehicles and the victim’s vehicle. Moore said she had not seen the black Rolls-Royce in the neighbourhood before the shooting, but added Mamdani “comes and goes” from the property quite frequently.
Not long after the shooting and several blocks away, fire crews responded to reports of multiple explosions in the 3800 block of 7th Street S.W.
Fire department spokeswoman Carol Henke said when firefighters arrived they found a Hyundai Santa Fe on fire in an alley parked between two garages.
Crews extinguished the fire in the empty vehicle, but not before the flames damaged the garages.
“We’re certainly looking into both of them with the strong suspicion that maybe they’re connected,” Baker said. “Arson is looking at that side of it, but they’re working hand in hand with us.
“It would be a very valid way to destroy evidence, absolutely, (but) that doesn’t mean that it’s connected to this shooting.”
A search of court documents revealed a long list of grievances against Mamdani.
The businessman is named as a defendant in two class action lawsuits, one of which claims $10 million in damages, and another in which investors claim they lost $200 million — the latter which was certified last year.
The $10-million claim, filed in June 2014, alleges Mamdani was involved in an investment deal in which investors in Alberta, Ontario and B.C. agreed to purchase a parcel of land through two Platinum Lands corporations.
Their claim states the investors raised $6.4 million to fund the purchases from SSAM Land Corp.
But it says SSAM, for which Mamdani was the directing mind, claimed the transaction was never closed because it had only received $5.7 million from the Platinum companies, controlled by defendant Shariff Chandran.
“At all relevant times, Mr. Chandran and Mr. Mamdani were close and long-term business partners in the real estate business in Alberta,” it says.
The lawsuit alleges the two parties conspired to collect the investors’ money “and then ... wrongfully take the investor funds for their own personal benefit.”
In the certified class action lawsuit, individuals — including Mamdani — and companies associated with the Platinum Group have been sued over allegations of misused investments.
About 2,200 investors lost an estimated $200 million buying limited partnership units or trust units that invested in commercial real estate entities that operated and were heavily marketed in print and on radio and television between 2002 and 2012.
A search of court records shows more than three dozen lawsuits involving Mamdani have been filed since 1993 — including one in which he is suing Chandran.
Mamdani is also well-known in Calgary’s philanthropic circles.
His company, Strategic Group, was reportedly involved in the settlement of Syrian refugees last year through the offering up of heavily discounted rental units. In 2012, he oversaw a partnership between Strategic Group and the Calgary Food Bank’s Lets Eat! Campaign, an annual food drive.
Mamdani also oversaw a program to collect clothing for less fortunate Calgarians, working with Project Warmth Society of Alberta. Alberta Champion Society, which recognizes the contributions of prominent Albertans, has also been supported by Mamdani. And, Mamdani’s financial support of Calgary Opera has allowed the organization to retain its Beltline headquarters, which was renamed the Mamdani Opera Centre in 2015.