Convicted fraudster who helped stage kidnapping gets four years
A convicted fraudster who helped stage the kidnapping of a U.S. citizen in Downtown Vancouver, including posing as a victim, has been sentenced to four years in prison.
In December, Ayaz Dhanani, 40, who received a lifetime securities trading ban in 2016, pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court to the April 17, 2016, abduction of Farjad Fani.
Dhanani, who was earlier convicted of fraud and sentenced to three years in prison, befriended Fani over the course of several weeks, telling him that he owned property. Fani told him that he was wealthy and was arranging to stay in Vancouver for several months in order to conduct business.
On the night of the abduction, the two men met at a restaurant in Coal Harbour and then went for a walk before a van pulled up and the two men were ordered into the vehicle.
After getting into the van, the accused’s legs and arms were tied behind his back with zap straps and two male co-conspirators pushed the victim to the floor. One of the co-conspirators, who were not identified in court, threatened the victim, saying “Get the f--- down. I’m going to kill you.”
The victim’s hands were tied behind his back with zap straps and his mouth and ears covered with duct tape. His head was covered with a bag.
The co-conspirators told
Fani that as long as he kept quiet, he would be fine as their real target was the accused, who they said owed them money.
After the vehicle started moving, the victim’s belongings were taken from him, including $3,000 in cash, a cellphone and credit cards, including a U.S.-issued Chase Bank Visa card.
The co-conspirators asked questions about the financial status of Fani, who responded that he had access to $800,000 through various accounts.
At one point, the co-conspirators cut the zap straps off the accused’s wrists, gave him his cellphone back and took the bag off his head. The accused then told the victim to send him the wire transfer information of his accounts to him via text message, which the victim proceeded to do.
The accused told the victim that he would talk the co-conspirators into letting them go so that they could facilitate the wire transfer, and the victim and accused were eventually released with the accused beginning to cry and expressing worry over his girlfriend, who the co-conspirators had said was in danger.
Fani later told police that the accused appeared to be faking his crying but that he was concerned that they were being watched and he was obliged to stay with the accused.
The two men went to Dhanani’s highrise apartment with the plan being to use the suite’s internet access to transfer the money.
Fani was able to find out the suite number and contact his colleagues, who called police to the scene.
Dhanani was arrested and then released. After his release, he used Fani’s Chase Bank card to buy a number of items, including a Rolex watch.
After receiving credit for pre-sentence custody, Dhanani will have three years and 128 days to serve.