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

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

Cricket being played in Calgary — File photo: Harish Sambath bowls towards batter Hari Reddy as the two get in a little spring training at the Riley Park cricket pitch on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Gavin Young/Postmedia

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Accused refutes allegations

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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“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.

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

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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.”

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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.

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“And he proceeded without that,” he said.

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

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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.”

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