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Real Estate Firm President Found Shot to Death

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

The president of an Encino real estate investment and property management company, described by friends as a successful and outgoing entrepreneur, was found shot to death in his Van Nuys apartment, police said Saturday.

Sultan Ahamad, 26, a native of India who came to the United States about eight years ago to attend college, was found dead Friday afternoon in his apartment in the 4900 block of Van Nuys Boulevard. He had been repeatedly shot in the chest, police said.

Detective Jim Vojtecky said there was no evidence of a break-in, leading police to suspect that Ahamad, president of Rubicon Investments, was killed by someone he knew. However investigators had not determined a motive for the killing Saturday.

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“There was no sign of forced entry, no evidence of ransacking,” Vojtecky said.

Police went to Ahamad’s apartment after receiving calls from friends that he had not shown up for work. Vojtecky said detectives will examine extensive business records they took from Ahamad’s apartment.

A friend and business colleague was stunned by the shooting. He described Ahamad as a caring individual who was determined to improve the apartments he owned and managed.

“He had a big heart,” said Al Gonzalez, who added that Ahamad was his best friend and business partner.

Gonzalez is vice president of Rubicon Investments, the firm the two founded. He said he met Ahamad six years ago while they were working at another Rubicon real estate franchise.

Three years ago, he said, the two started their own Rubicon branch. They own four apartment buildings in Canoga Park, Sepulveda and Van Nuys. The company also manages six other properties in the San Fernando Valley.

Michael Scouten, manager of one of the Canoga Park complexes, said that when Ahamad bought the property a year and a half ago, the building was in disrepair. He said Ahamad improved it by installing security bars and gates, new carpet, air conditioning and better lighting.

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“He never feared for his life. He had so many friends,” Gonzalez said. “Even people we evicted would come back and ask us if we had another apartment.”

Ahamad came to the United States from Hyderabad, India, when he was about 18 years old to study at a university in Kansas. He later obtained a master of business administration degree from UCLA, Gonzalez said.

In January, he entered Loyola-Marymount University Law School and hoped to practice real estate and land-use law, Gonzalez said. Ahamad was a devout Muslim, who did not smoke or drink and attended services at a downtown Los Angeles mosque every Friday, Gonzalez said.

Although he enjoyed life in the United States, he hoped someday to “go back to India and become a senator and try to correct their system,” Gonzalez said. “I can’t believe somebody would do this to him.”

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