Nakita Baron, 31, and her husband, Talal Fouani, 46, were shot in their Bentley as it pulled out of their driveway. The vehicle ended up in a neighbor’s driveway across the street from the victims’ home in the southwest Evergreen community. Baron was pronounced dead at the scene, while Fouani was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition. He is currently considered “stable” but is on a ventilator, according to Calgary police. Police are investigating a shooting in the southwest Evergreen community Thursday that left a woman dead and a man with life-threatening injuries. (Lucie Edwardson/CBC) As police work to track down the suspect, CBC News has learned that officers are looking into inquiries, including Fuani’s dealings with the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC), his criminal history and his current charges before the courts. CBC News requested an interview or statement from the Fuanis, but lawyer Yoav Niv declined on behalf of the family. Instead, he issued a brief statement that his clients — Niv represents two of three siblings facing criminal charges — “are presumed innocent and have pleaded not guilty to the charges.” According to websites linked to the Fouani brothers, Talal is involved in Fouani Investments, a private finance, consulting and management firm, as well as another company that describes his work as a venture capitalist and investor.
He is accused of laundering drug money
In June, Fuani and two brothers were arrested on charges of money laundering. Fuani faces charges including participation in the activities of a criminal organization, money laundering and possession of stolen property over $5,000 for offenses that allegedly took place between July 2020 and December 2021. The three brothers were released on bail with a number of conditions attached to their freedom. According to the wording of the charge as seen in court documents, Fuani is accused of laundering money obtained through drug trafficking in both Calgary and Halifax. Of the 23 people Fuani is barred from having contact with, 10 are men and women who have faced drug-trafficking charges in recent years following cocaine busts in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. One of those people is Ricco King, who has faced numerous charges, including an arrest in connection with an international cocaine-trafficking ring in 2016. Talal Fouani, left, is in hospital after a shooting that left his wife, Nakita, dead. (Instagram/Nakita Baron) King and three others, including his father William King, were charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and possession with intent to traffic. Two of the men arrested as part of the same organized crime investigation faced charges of first-degree murder, accused of shooting alleged drug dealers. But in 2019, the four men saw their charges upheld after a judge ruled it took too long for the case to go to trial. In addition to the no-contact order, Fuani was also banned from possessing drugs, weapons and had to surrender his passport. The trial is set for September 2023. Between 1996 and 2007, Fuani was convicted of assault with a weapon, uttering threats and theft over $5,000.
Fuani testifies against an ex-boyfriend
More recently, it has been linked to a “pump and dump” scam that involves artificially inflating a stock in order to sell the cheaply bought stock at a higher price. In 2020, Fuani testified against his former friend and business partner Jem “Jim” Kahn at an Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) hearing. At that hearing, Fuani gave what the Commission described as a “behind-the-scenes” look at BluForest, which had promised to be a major player in selling carbon offsets through reforestation in Ecuador, where it claimed to be leading major climate change mitigation projects . Although Fuani “accompanyed Can to various Bluforest-related meetings in Belize and Panama,” the ASC wrote in its 2020 decision that he also “sought to minimize his involvement.” In August 2020, the ASC ruled that Can and Miller had violated the Alberta Securities Act and imposed sanctions against the two men, permanently banning them from trading securities in Alberta and imposing $2.3 million in fines for Can and $350,000 for Miller. Can was arrested in 2003, along with two Hells Angels associates, on charges of extortion and kidnapping related to a stock deal gone bad. The charges were later dropped due to concerns about the credibility of the alleged victim. Calgary police shared this image they gathered from CCTV footage of a man they say is a suspect in a shooting Thursday in Evergreen. (Submitted by the Calgary Police Service) The Calgary Police Service said last week’s shooting does not appear to be random. CPS released photos of a 25- to 35-year-old suspect captured on nearby security cameras who is believed to have shot the couple before taking off in a Mitsubishi Eclipse SUV. At the time, he was wearing a hard hat, a black hood, as well as an orange and yellow reflective shirt. He also had a small white dog with him. In May, Baron released an acceptance letter from the University of Calgary, outlining her goals to become a doctor.
