North Vancouver federal election candidate has U.S. convictions for illegal firearms
Oliver King, formerly known as Hamid Malekpour, was convicted of five counts in May 2011 in Seattle courtroom
Author of the article:Kim Bolan
Published Apr 02, 2025 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 4 minute read
Photograph of Oliver King from his campaign website.
Photograph of Oliver King from his campaign website.
A North Vancouver federal candidate running as an Independent has convictions in the U.S. for illegally dealing in firearms and lying to border authorities, Postmedia News has learned.
Oliver King, formerly known as Hamid Malekpour, was convicted of five counts in May 2011 in a Seattle courtroom. He was initially sentenced to almost six years in jail. But after he filed an appeal, one count was dropped by prosecutors and his sentence was reduced to 30 months.
King was also previously convicted in Denmark for attempted fraud, according to documents filed in the U.S. prosecution.
Reached by phone Monday, King refused to comment on his criminal history. He appeared to hang up three times on a reporter when asked about the U.S. convictions.
“Who gave you permission?” King asked, declining to clarify what he meant. “You’re (a) waste of time.”
He wouldn’t comment on whether the voters should know about his record for unlawfully dealing in firearms and making false statements to U.S. border officials on three occasions.
King’s U.S. troubles began in February 2009 when he crossed the B.C. border into Washington state and gave “conflicting statements” for why he was in the U.S. He was sent for secondary inspection and more questions.
“By the end of the conversation, King was annoyed, accused the agents of racism and delaying him because he was born in Iran, and announced he no longer wished to enter the United States,” a government sentencing memo filed in 2011 said.
King, who changed his name in 2008, crossed the border 18 times over the subsequent 15 months “each time explaining he was coming to pick up consumer goods, his wife or her parents, or to check his mail at a border-town mail service, Hagen’s of Blaine.”
Surveillance showed “his activities were always at odds with his stated reason for entry. The three false statement convictions arise from false statements made by Mr. King at the border related to his purpose for entering the United States.”
He was arrested on May 19, 2010, after he travelled from B.C. to McMinnville, Ore., and brought guns back to Ferndale, Wash. Police searched his vehicle and a storage locker and “recovered 21 high-end firearms, gun magazines … scopes and rounds of ammunition, along with his computer, cellular phone and miscellaneous documents, including two valid Canadian passports,” the 2011 prosecution sentencing memo said.
At his first sentencing hearing in May 2011, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart highlighted King’s “pattern of lying,” including some “incredible” testimony that the B.C. man offered at a pretrial hearing.
At his second sentencing hearing, after one of five counts was dropped, King’s lawyer said he was merely a firearms collector and that there was “no indication he at any time transferred or agreed to sell any of these firearms to others.”
But the second prosecution sentencing memo said the evidence at his jury trial showed King and an accomplice intended to transfer some of the firearms to Canada.
“The court heard trial testimony sufficient to find this to be King’s intent in at least two such instances. The most egregious was the apparent anticipated transfer of the guns to Canada in violation of export laws and Canadian firearms laws,” the July 2012 document said.
King announced his intention to run for federal office on Instagram in June 2023. Since then, he has posted regularly on social media and his own campaign website.
A Farsi language video posted on both his X and Instagram accounts shows King dressed in camouflage, firearm in hand, shooting at a target.
Elections Canada’s website indicates King has registered to run in the riding of North Vancouver-Capilano. Someone with a criminal record can run for office in Canada, except for those who have violated certain sections of the Canada Elections Act.
His campaign website says he believes in “streamlining government, streamlining enforcement, enhancing sustainability as (an) economic market” and expanding international trade potential.
In a video he posted to X in October 2023, King told an interviewer that he was born in Iran and “adopted at a young age by Europeans.”
“I was raised in Europe. My family was very active in politics. So from a young age, I was involved in politics,” he said. “And about 22 years ago, I was invited by the Canadian consulate in Europe, to emigrate to Canada.”
He said he has owned several companies and wants to represent his constituents in North Van.
“I was born in Iran, so I still get the Iranian treatment,” he said, adding that “Canada has been ruled by Europeans and by all European rules. That has to change.”
He said Canada needs to reestablish diplomatic relations with Iran.
“We have a big community … They have to open our embassies. There is no reason why our embassies are closed,” he said. “We have to have a relationship with our people, our background. We have to have trade, this would boost our economy. We won’t have tourists coming to Canada from Iran, unrestricted, visa-free.”
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Federal laws of Canada
laws-lois.justice.gc.ca
Independent candidate Oliver King, formerly known as Hamid Malekpour, was convicted of five counts in May 2011 in a Seattle courtroom
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