Samy Mokademm, the man who was shot Monday in Rosemont while he was riding in an expensive luxury car, recently told the police he was an investor from France when he tried unsuccessfully to talk his way out of being charged with extortion.
While some media have reported that Mokademm has since died, a Montreal police spokesperson said that, as of late Thursday afternoon, Mokademm was still alive and in critical condition.
Mokaddem was shot around 1:30 p.m. on Monday while riding in a Bentley convertible on Bélanger St. The shooter left the firearm at the scene and fled. No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.
In November, Mokademm was arrested by the Montreal police and was charged in a case alleging he used extortion to try to get money out of two men between March 10 and Nov. 3 last year. One charge alleges that Mokademm intimidated one of the victims by doing surveillance on his home. He was also charged with threatening to use violence against the other victim and his family if he didn’t hand over the money Mokademm was seeking.
When he was granted a conditional release in the case in November, Mokademm listed his address as a condominium on Coloniale Ave. in Plateau-Mont-Royal that is owned by two Montreal police officers, including one who has worked out of Station 35.
The next court date in Mokademm’s case was scheduled for June. According to provincial court records, a judge was scheduled to hear arguments on a motion that involved one of the alleged victims in the case. The prosecution filed the motion and raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, if the victim eventually testified, because he had been represented in the past by the same law firm that was defending Mokademm. The motion reveals that the same alleged victim is currently charged with pretending to be a lawyer.
According to details contained in the motion, following his arrest, Mokademm gave a statement to the police on Nov. 3. He said he was a citizen of France and that, in 2013, he had taken steps to obtain a visa that would allow him to stay in Canada as an investor. To that end, Mokademm told the police, he had transferred a million euros to Canada to prove he had the means to invest. He said he waited a year for his immigration papers and that in the interim “the money disappeared.” He also alleged that the two men named as the victims of the extortion were involved in the disappearance of his money and that he tried to get his money back from them.
He told the police: “All of this story (behind his extortion charges) today, it is because of (his immigration status).”
According to the Quebec business registry, Mokademm was the president, secretary and treasurer of IJ Investments Canada inc., a Montreal real-estate company he started in 2014.