Omid Tahvili (; born on 31 October 1970, in
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
, Iran
[) is an Iranian-Canadian sexual offender and kingpin of an ]organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
family in Canada that is connected to various international crime organizations.Forbes.com
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...
, after consulting with law enforcement agencies around the world, listed him as one of the world's ten most wanted fugitives.[
]
Criminal activities
Drugs
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
(RCMP), Tahvili came to Canada from Iran in 1994.cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
, in a joint operation between the Vancouver Police and the RCMP. Tahvili was found not guilty. By 2003, the RCMP recognized Tahvili as heading up one of the main criminal organizations operating out of an Iranian community in Canada. At that time, dozens of Iranian expatriates were working under him.[
]
Fraud
From 1999 to 2002, he ran a fraudulent telemarketing
Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products, subscriptions or services, either over the phone or throu ...
business that targeted people in the United States, stealing approximately US$3 million from hundreds of victims, most of them elderly.[ A federal arrest warrant was issued for Tahvili on January 30, 2003 by the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, where he was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, telemarketing fraud and ]aiding and abetting
Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally al ...
.
Tahvili was arrested in British Columbia on an extradition warrant and Tahvili was eventually ordered extradited to the United States of America by the British Columbia Supreme Court on May 4, 2007. Tahvili had been represented by Canadian criminal and extradition lawyer Amandeep Singh, known for his representation of high profile and controversial international clientele such as billionaire banker fugitive Rakesh Saxena. Tahvili appealed his extradition order to the British Columbia Court of Appeal and was awaiting his appeal when he absconded from the pre-trial facility where he was held.
Escape and conviction
In 2005, Tahvili discovered that Can$
The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...
300,000 of his organization's drug money went missing, and suspected that a courier who worked for him stole it and fled to Vietnam. Tahvili kidnapped the man's brother-in-law, sexually assaulted
Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexua ...
him, and interrogated him over several hours.[ The man was eventually let go and Tahvili was arrested soon after. Since July 2005, Tahvili had awaited trial in the maximum-security North Fraser Pretrial Centre in ]British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
until he escaped in November 2007 after bribing a Corrections Officer named Edwin Ticne.closed-circuit-television
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal ...
video showed Tahvili leaving the Pretrial Centre wearing a janitor's uniform and being led through a series of locked doors by Ticne, and escaping through the front door.[ On August 8, 2008, Ticne was sentenced to three years and three months jail time for aiding in his escape.][
]
See also
*List of fugitives from justice who disappeared
This is a list of fugitives from justice, notable people who disappeared or evaded capture while being sought by law enforcement agencies in connection with a crime, and who are currently sought or were sought for the duration of their presumed ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahvili, Omid
1970 births
21st-century Canadian criminals
21st-century Iranian criminals
Canadian crime bosses
Canadian escapees
Canadian fraudsters
Canadian gangsters
Canadian male criminals
Canadian rapists
Canadian white-collar criminals
Confidence tricksters
Crime bosses
Escapees from Canadian detention
Fugitives wanted by Canada
Fugitives wanted by the United States
Fugitives wanted on fraud charges
Fugitives wanted on kidnapping charges
Fugitives wanted on organised crime charges
Fugitives wanted on sex crime charges
Iranian emigrants to Canada
Iranian escapees
Iranian fraudsters
Iranian gangsters
Iranian rapists
Iranian white-collar criminals
Living people
People from Kermanshah
People from Tehran