A Carleton international student testified in court July 7 that his employer, Ali Karimi, owner of five Zesty Market stores in Ottawa, tried to extort $50,000 from him after accusing him of stealing money from the store’s till, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
Yashar Kablou, a mechanical engineering student at Carleton, testified that Karimi demanded money after Kablou took $300 from the cash register.
Kablou explained that he had left a note explaining he was taking money because Karimi owed him back wages, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
Before Kablou left the store, Karimi accused him of stealing and threatened to call police and have him deported back to Iran unless Kablou paid him $50,000 to cover $300 a day for his entire employment.
Kablou paid Karimi almost $9,500 before going to police.
“I came to Canada to start a new life. I thought all of that was gone,” Kablou told the Ottawa Citizen in May.
After six days of deliberation, the jury found Karimi guilty of criminally harassing and extorting money from two employees in addition to trying to extort money from another.
Assistant Crown attorney Riad Tallim questioned whether Karimi could be a flight risk and asked the judge to alter the conditions of his release.
Karimi’s lawyer Lorne Goldstein argued against the request, noting that his client owns property in Ottawa and has children attending local schools.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Lloyd Brennan agreed and made no changes to Karimi’s bail conditions.
Karimi’s wife was acquitted of two counts of criminal harassment as well as attempted extortion.
Additional employees stepped up during the judicial process stating they were earning below minimum wage and being paid under the table in addition to the multiple threats from Karimi, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
The judge will hear sentencing submissions August 3.
