The family unit presents as the unlikliest of candidates for selection as immigrant material. The family is huge, with many dependants, including seven children and an aunt (who turns out to be the first wife).
None of them speak English or French.
The father at 54 years old, has no professional or language skills and seems to possess none of the attributes of an ideal candidate. He is clearly too old to be considered as the sole breadwinner for a young family. It is reported that he claimed to be businessman who represented Sony and Panasonic back in Kabul, but the likelihood of that story being true is dubious and even if true, shouldn't have had any bearing on his eligibility for immigration.
Why? Because he obviously didn't present himself as a millionaire investor, otherwise the family wouldn't have had to live the lie of being poor. The ten of them set up home in a rather ordinary duplex in a modest Italian working class neighborhood. The home (pictured on the right) where the large family has been living is certainly not the digs of a multi-millionaire.Since his arrival, Mr, Shafia purchased an investment property in Laval, a Montreal suburb, for $2 million, putting down $1.6 million in cash.
Impressive as that is, the property could never generate the income to pay for the contruction and maintenance of the fabulous home pictured below, that the family is erecting in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Brossard, a town just off the south shore of the island of Montreal.
The community is home to the majority of Quebec's 5, 000 strong ex-pat Afghan community. Most don't live in such a fancy neighbourhood, but there are still quite a few in the ritzy development where the home is being built.
Mr. Shafia has opened and closed other companies, but they largely appear to be fronts.
Mr. Shafia is reported to have put down $700K on this home, which the press is reporting as being worth just under a million dollars.I doubt if those reporters talked to any real estate agents before putting a dollar estimate on the property, but they are certainly way off base.
To those who know, the house, when finished and furnished, will be worth somewhere between 2 and 4 million dollars, quite a step up from a $1200 a month rental.
The three alleged murderers won't be moving into the mansion any time soon. It's more than likely that their new residence will feature an open bathroom concept.
It doesn't take a genius to see that Mr. Shafia was living a false life.
How he conned or bought his way into this country is something that should be investigated . He wouldn't be the first to have gained entry by less than honest means.
I doubt that being an electronics distributor in a country that sells precious few electronics can generate the millions that he seems to have at his disposal and there are precious few businesses in Afghanistan that can generate that type of money.
Any guesses? Perhaps he was in the flower business?
How on earth did they get into Canada??
The Canadian public is owed an explanation beyond the murders, but as we can expect, Immigration Canada is circling the wagons, resorting to the old cheasnut- 'privacy concerns' to refuse comment.
