Businessman or con man

Four horses Ansari placed in the care of Latiefa Abdu-Shahid of Cuyle Road in Masonville died. Abdu-Shahid then surrendered five apparently starving purebred Arabian horses owned by Ansari to the Peace Plantation, an animal sanctuary in Walton.

A stallion that was also stabled in her barn was taken to an undisclosed location in Coventry.

Patty Gardepe, a Peace Plantation spokeswoman, said Ansari signed ownership of the surviving horses over to Peace Plantation.

"Things are going very well. Mr. Ansari has been very pleasant and said he is glad that the horses will have a good home," Gardepe said.

Elizabeth Kallai of Forest City, N.C., said that two years ago she was involved in a business partnership with Ansari. The partnership didn't last long because, she said, he didn't have a bank account, used several identities and had no identification.

"He is a con man who uses at least seven different names," Kallai said. "He has no business owning horses because he is not capable of taking care of them."

Bill Sherman, a veterinary technician at Peace Plantation and assistant horse agent at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County, said Abdu-Shahid began making calls on Jan. 24 looking for help.

Sherman said Abdu-Shahid spoke to him at the Cooperative Extension office about the possible cause of death and whether she had been feeding the horses correctly. She also called other places about how to dispose of the bodies, he said.

Sherman said he went to Abdu-Shahid's property on Jan. 25 to check on the horses.

"It was the most horrible sight you could see," Sherman said. "There were two horses dead in a stall and a horse and a foal dead in a pasture with dogs feeding on the carcasses."

Trooper Lenny Switkowski of the state police at Sidney said charges will not be filed against Abdu-Shahid, who said she is distantly related to Ansari by marriage.

An investigation of Ansari, of Brooklyn, is continuing, said Delaware County Assistant District Attorney John Muehl.

"I specifically asked the trooper if there was any evidence that she (Abdu-Shahid) did anything wrong. The trooper told me she was doing a favor and the person who owned the horses was supposed to provide food and care for them.

"Although the horses appeared to be undernourished, there wasn't anything she did or didn't do that contributed to their death," Muehl said. "In fact, when they began to die, she called for help. She didn't try to hide anything or cover anything up."

Abdu-Shahid said she agreed to care for the horses when Ansari promised to do repairs on her barn, improve the fencing and give her two horses. She said he never kept his promises.

Repeated telephone and e-mail attempts by The Daily Star over a 10-day period to reach Ansari have been unsuccessful. He has not returned calls after messages were left at a number listed in his name in Jamaica, Queens, and e-mails have gone unanswered.

Abdu-Shahid said Ansari took the horses to her property around Dec. 15 because he told her he had to remove them from other places where they were not receiving proper care. She said the horses arrived on two different days, always after dark, and he told her they had been at two different locations, one in Coventry and the other in Brooklyn.

"He told me the ASPCA in Brooklyn made the people who were boarding the horses move them because they were out in the street," Abdu-Shahid said. "The stallion and one of the horses that died came from down there. He said the place in Coventry was starving the horses because they were jealous. We believed he loved these horses."

Deborah Spinell, an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals spokeswoman in Manhattan, said the timing of the arrival of the horses in Masonville from Brooklyn corresponds with the closure of a makeshift stable where people could rent space to keep animals.

"There was a ramshackle area on the Brooklyn-Queens border where there were horses being kept. Around Dec. 15 the city was starting to come down on them and they had to clear the horses out. Time-wise, this correlates very closely and the stories match up," Spinell said.

Abdu-Shahid said the horses that died included a chestnut and white mare, a young black horse, a bay mare and a foal that was born to one of the surviving gray mares.

Dr. Emily Leonard of Ouleout Valley Veterinary Associates in Sidney, Delaware County Deputy Kim Smith and Switkowski took part in the initial investigation.

Leonard said she didn't know why the horses died.

"I'm not sure what caused their death, but it was my recommendation to get the horses out of there, based on the situation and the housing," Leonard said.

Sherman said the surviving horses, which include three gray mares, a pregnant chestnut mare and a black colt, are all doing well. He added that donations poured in to help provide feed and equipment for the horses after they were moved to the Peace Plantation.

Dr. Peter Huyler, a Walton veterinarian who specializes in horses, said he examined the young, purebred Arabian horses, which cost between $1,500 and $2,500, and expects them all to survive.

The owner is ultimately responsible for the horses, Huyler said, and he credits their survival to Abdu-Shahid.

"The only reason those horses are alive is because she knew they were in trouble," Huyler said.

Abdu-Shahid said she and her family fed the horses regularly and bought feed and hay for them when Ansari regularly failed to show up on time with hay.

Abdu-Shahid said the only way she could communicate with Ansari was through his website, www.sanhadjaarabians.com.

That website had extensive information about purebred Arabian horses Ansari had available for sale or rent. On Wednesday, the website vanished from the Internet.

Since the first Daily Star story reporting the horses' deaths, several horse owners nationwide have been trying to find out if any of the animals might have originally belonged to them.

Joan Stone of Canajoharie said she read about the horses in The Daily Star and recognized Ansari's name. She said he bought two Arabian mares from her. Four years earlier, she said, she sold him a black colt.

Stone said she posted the newspaper stories on Arabian horse websites on the Internet to alert people about the situation.

Stone said she discovered on Wednesday that one of the mares at Peace Plantation once belonged to her.

Stone said that after the sale of the mares a year ago, Ansari failed to pick them up until she threatened to begin charging him a boarding fee.

"He paid for them and then never got them. I could kick myself now for insisting that he pick them up. They were fat and healthy and both of them were in foal when they left here in September," Stone said.

Stone said she contacted Ansari via e-mail to try to find out where the three horses she sold him were being stabled. She said he had never changed the registry for the two mares, so they are still in her name.

She said Ansari's wife, Lin, wrote her a series of messages indicating that she would attempt to reach Ansari and have him call her.

"Yahya is a dreamer who comes across as a man who loves horses and really cares about them, but he is a good talker and I have decided that he is a con artist," Stone said. "My husband didn't want me to sell him the horses, and now I wish I had listened to him."

Kallai said Ansari often tried to purchase horses by offering liens on pending lawsuit settlements.

"I was able to stop a few people from selling horses to him, but he is very convincing," Kallai said. "As a breeder, myself, I am concerned about the welfare of the horses. They can't speak for themselves."

Marti Rooke of Asheville, N.C., said in an e-mail, "I corresponded via e-mail and some phone calls in 2001 with an Arabic man who lives in New York and has that website address — Sanhadjaarabians.

"He was interested in bringing some mares to be bred to my Arabian stallion here in North Carolina. I almost sold him a yearling colt, too, but he flaked out on both deals and I never heard from him again, fortunately for me and my horses. He called himself Abu Ibaidah Ibn Mansuur."

"I don't know for sure if it's the same person, just sounds like it could be him," Rooke said. "He contacted some other breeders I know after I had dealt with him and introduced himself by a different name, so I know this guy gives different versions of his name."

Robin L. Weeks, owner of Chickasaw Paints stables in Wiggins, Miss., said in an e-mail, "I read the articles on the starved Arabian horses and wanted to inquire about the others.

"I sold Yahya Ansaari (sic) two horses about a year ago. A black mare and a grey (sic) stallion," Weeks said. "He has sent photos of the stallion and he looks in good condition. Are the authorities aware that he has other horses?"

Charlotte Newell, a veterinarian from Upton, Mass., said she was worried about a gray mare she had delivered that is now owned by Ansari.

Newell said Ansari had boarded horses in Ransom, Kan., at a place where horses had starved and died, and that might have been why some of his horses were so thin.

She said Ansari was a victim in that incident, and he traveled to Kansas and got the horses.

Donna Bellmore of Canada said in an e-mail, "I sold three horses to Mr. Ansari in September, but they never left my place. He paid for them, and when the time came they were to go, he wrote me saying his horses were being starved where he had them out on lease. So according to him, he had to spend all his extra time getting his starving horses home. I think he said he lost four mares due to starvation."

Janet Wetter, president of Wetterlands Ranch in Owenton, Ky., said in an e-mail, "I just read the two articles about the starving horses and would like to tell you that I have been communicating with their owner for the last few weeks. He was trying to lease my desert-bred mare, which I would not lease to him.

"He has additional horses and I only have to wonder about their condition. In his communications to me he stated that he was looking to purchase a place in New Mexico ... because it looked like his native land," Wetter said.

Stone said Ansari has 18 horses registered in his name, but he also leases horses and he has purchased other horses and never transferred their registry.

People contacted by The Daily Star said Ansari indicated he has a ranch in Georgia, but none of those contacted knew the exact location.

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Patricia Breakey can be reached at (607) 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.