Skip to content

Police charge Cricket Canada CEO with theft from Calgary league​on March 12, 2025 at 11:51 pm

March 13, 2025

Calgary police have charged the CEO of Canada’s cricket body, alongside another individual, with fraud during his time as president of a local cricket league. Read More

​The investigation began in 2017 after the league’s then-newly appointed president reported financial fraud to the police   

The investigation began in 2017 after the league’s then-newly appointed president reported financial fraud to the police

Article content

Calgary police have charged the CEO of Canada’s cricket body, alongside another individual, with embezzlement, during his time as president of a city cricket league.

Article content

Article content

Salman Khan Shahzad, 46, and Syed Wajahat Ali, 45, are charged with one count each of fraud over $5,000 from the Calgary and District Cricket League during their time as the organization’s president and treasurer, Calgary police said in a release.

Article content

Story continues below

Article content

The investigation began in 2017 after the league’s then newly appointed president reported financial fraud to the police after an internal review of the league’s accounts found several discrepancies and concerns.

Article content

Article content

The probe found that more than $200,000 had been misappropriated from the league between January 2014 and December 2016.

Article content

Khan left his position at the league in 2016 after he was named president of the Alberta Cricket Association. He currently serves as CEO of Cricket Canada, a position he has held since January.

Article content

Postmedia has reached out to Cricket Canada to ask if the organization was aware of an investigation prior to Khan’s appointment but did not hear back before publication.

Article content

Shabhaz Saadat, a member of the board of directors for the league and president of the Predators Cricket club, said the league had informed the organization of the investigation last year.

Article content

Accused refutes allegations

Article content

Khan confirmed the organization had heard from the league earlier in 2024 and had disclosed that an investigation was ongoing in writing to the cricket body when he was first approached for the position in December of last year.

Article content

According to police, the funds were misappropriated via cheque payments made to businesses and contractors which Khan and Ali, or their immediate family members, had connections to. Payments were made for repairs or upgrades to the league’s property. The work, the release adds, was never completed or performed to a substandard quality using inferior products.

Article content

The costs for the work were “highly inflated,” the release adds.

Article content

Khan refuted the allegations on a Facebook post and in an interview with Postmedia, alleging that the police made little to no efforts to hear his side of the story before placing the charges against him.

Article content

“Police never approached me during the seven years, except during the last year,” he told Postmedia, adding that he had approached them multiple times in the past years to ask about the investigation.

Article content

“They said it’s in process,” he said of the response from police.

Article content

Story continues below

Article content

Article content

Police, he said, had approached him last year with a request to interview him. “I told him I’m busy with Ramadan and some commitments, I’ll come back after Ramadan.”

Article content

The officer, he said, told him they couldn’t wait and would proceed without the interview. “I gave him an offer that since I cannot travel, I can send all the documentation and evidence over email,” he said, which the officer declined as the process does not allow to accept material via email.

Article content

“And he proceeded without that,” he said.

Article content

According to the release, the first scheduled court appearance is set for Thursday, March 13.

Article content

Khan is adamant that nothing will come of the charges. “After eight years in civil court, they are not even able to prove a penny was stolen,” he said. “It’s all about defamation, it’s all about noise. But unfortunately I’m not afraid of it.”

Article content

Emotional, financial toll on league

Article content

However, for the league, the charges signal a movement that they have been pushing for for years, according to Saadat.

 


Discover more from World Byte News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Discover more from World Byte News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading