Hassan Almrei - in Canada

In Canada

On January 2, 1999, he flew to Toronto Pearson International Airport from Jordan. Upon landing he claimed that he had used a forged passport from the United Arab Emirates and had destroyed it. He was picked up at the airport by his "good friend" Ahmed Al Kaysee, whom he'd met while in Afghanistan.

In September 1999, Almrei and five other men had been in a restricted portion of Pearson Airport, as they "appeared to have access cards and codes". The explanation has been offered that these six men were working in the airport at temporary jobs, and their credentials were legitimate. He also maintained contact with the Thai smuggler. Attending Jami Mosque, Almrei met Ibrahim Ishak, who introduced himself as a Bosnian immigration consultant. Almrei later directed two people seeking help acquiring G-class driver's licences to Ishak, who paid him for the referral.

Within months of arriving, he had become close friends with Hassan Ahmed, and would help him with his fruit stand, where he initially had trouble speaking to female customers due to his religious upbringing; but later began to flirt openly with them as his religious stance relaxed. He suggested that he was interested in finding a prospective wife. Ahmed would later register a cell phone for Almrei in his name.

Almrei says he was contacted by al-Marabh, from the Kunduz guesthouse, while the latter was still living in the United States, and was asked to help him acquire a false passport for C$2,000. He says that since al-Marabh introduced himself as "Abu Adnan", he did not immediately recognise that it was him. Almrei used his childhood name, "Abu al-Hareth", during the transaction. The two met at the Toronto copy store owned by al-Marabh's uncle, Ahmed Shehab, where a number of prominent forged identity cards were later found - and Almrei sold him the fake passport. Almrei says he was later asked to find a second passport for him, but refused.

After al-Marabh was arrested trying to illegally enter the United States hiding in a tractor trailer, Almrei visited him in the Thorold prison, and collected money from colleagues to loan him C$2,500 for bail. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigated Almrei's procurement of the false passport, but opted not to press charges.

He was granted refugee status in June 2000, stating that he feared persecution in Syria due to his father's alleged membership in the Muslim Brotherhood.

In January 2000, Almrei purchased a Middle Eastern eatery named Eat-A-Pita for C$22,000. One of his employees who was working "under the table" due to her visa restrictions, asked Almrei if he knew any men who might enter a marriage of convenience if she offered them C$4,000 to allow her to remain in the country. Knowing that Ishak, whom he'd met a year earlier at the mosque, was in need of money, Almrei informed him of the proposal, and the pair had a civil marriage at city hall as well as a formal Islamic marriage at the mosque, and Almrei served as a witness to both marriages. Almrei also drafted a fake reference letter from his restaurant to indicate that Ishak was an employee, to help support his case for sponsoring his new wife to become a Canadian. On September 13, 2000, Almrei's residence was searched and the forged passport was discovered. Ishak was stopped in Detroit while flying back to Canada on January 14, 2001 and charged with carrying bundles of fake identification and a crimping machine. Ishak returned to Bosnia, withdrawing his sponsorship of Almrei's former cashier. Feeling personally responsible, Almrei paid her back the C$4,000 Ishak had taken, out of his own pocket in October 2001, when he learned that Ishak was convicted of scamming prospective emigrants in Bosnia.

Friends spoke of Almrei as having poor financial sense, and often had to borrow money. In August 2000, Almrei sold the restaurant for $18,500. He reported becoming depressed and being unemployed for a while, until a friend had to travel overseas due to his father's death, and asked Almrei if he would run his business for several months. He was paid with a used van, and used it to find work making restaurant deliveries throughout the city, earning $800–1000 monthly. His cell phone was cut off due to lapsed payments, and he sometimes drove uninsured because he could not afford the payments.