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.