A civil forfeiture case against a Maple Ridge real estate agent who was fatally stabbed and her ex-husband was dismissed last year after a ruling by a provincial court judge said that police breached her ex-husband’s rights.
The lawsuit was initially filed against Shah, also known as Ramina Karimzadeh Shirazi, and her then-husband Bobby Shah, also known as Bahman Djebelibak, in 2018. However it was dismissed by a provincial court judge in 2021 after it was determined that police infringed not only on the couple’s privacy, but their rights and freedoms.
Judge David St. Pierre said in his ruling that police overstepped the boundaries of a search warrant obtained to collect evidence from the couple’s personal property in Maple Ridge and a business they owned in Port Coquitlam by collecting items that did not fall among the items described on a list for the warrant.
The defense for Djebelibak said there was no basis for the seizure of up to 85-95 per cent of the contents of the house and business – most notably receipts located in a pickup truck that related to a VPD fraud investigation involving a person by the name of Khoa Do, the seizure of a number of vehicles that were not on the search warrant list, and the location of tax returns for Djebelibak and his wife Shirazi for 2015 and 2016 that stated their income each as $25,446.00 per year.
The judge said the belief by the officer in charge of the search that the items not on the list were seizable was “an unreasonably held belief” that goes against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that “warns against the police engaging in a ‘fishing expedition’ to find evidence of an offence without establishing reasonable grounds to do so.”
Police were also found to have infringed upon the privacy of the couple, after they conducted aerial surveillance above the couple’s Maple Ridge property without a warrant. Pictures were taken of the back porch, both covered and uncovered area and the backyard areas adjacent to the rear portion of the house from a helicopter. Judge St. Pierre noted in his findings that there should have been reasonable expectation of privacy by the couple.
“In my view, the residents (including Mr. Shah) in this dwelling would have a reasonable expectation of privacy in this particular area of their property and that expectation is objectively reasonable,” he wrote.
READ MORE: Maple Ridge Realtor identified as victim of fatal stabbing in Coquitlam
Judge St. Pierre also determined that police failed to comply with Section 490 of the Criminal Code with respect to a post search procedure that spells out how items seized should be cared for and when they should be returned to the rightful owner, after the personal cell phone of Djebelibak was returned to someone else in error.
The judge also said that the lawful ownership and possession of items seized was not complied with or followed in any respect. Seized items from Djebelibak’s house and business were returned to individuals who claimed the items were stolen. However, the judge ruled that a person from whom an item is seized and who claims to be the lawful owner, must be allowed the opportunity to establish that he is the rightful owner. So, the items should have been returned to Djebelibak.
Police were also found to have mistreated Djebelibak’s infant child after they entered the home and arrested Djebelibak.
His one-year-old child was watched over by several police officers during the search.
Shirazi, the child’s mother, who was just about to take an exam at UBC, was called and told of the situation and she immediately asked a friend of hers to pick up the child. Her friend was told by police she was not allowed to pick up the child.
When Shirazi finally returned home about 80 minutes later she was denied entry and despite asking for the return of her child, police did not return her baby for about another 50 minutes when she was discovered to be “wet from head to toe” with urine as no one had changed her diaper. The judge said there was no credible explanation why a one-year-old child was not immediately reunited with her mother when she arrived on the scene of a search warrant execution.
READ ALSO: Murdered Maple Ridge woman involved in civil forfeiture case
Finally the judge “quashed” the warrant for the couple’s business saying there was “insufficient credible and reliable evidence to permit an issuing justice to authorize the warrant.”
Ramina Shah, 32, was murdered in an underground parkade in Coquitlam on Jan. 27, just steps from where she worked as a real estate agent for Team Zubor and Associates with StoneHaus Realty.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, (IHIT), is investigating the case and say Shah’s killing appears to be isolated, not random.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
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