Karima Manji, seen in a police mugshot from 2015, after being convicted of defrauding her then employer, the March of Dimes Non-Profit Housing Corporation. Manji is about to be sentenced again, this time for the Inuit identity fraud she carried out to get her twin daughters scholarships and business opportunities only available to Inuit. Her sentencing will be read on Thursday morning. Photo Courtesy: Toronto Police Service
A Nunavut judge has sentenced a Toronto woman to three years in prison in a case of Inuit identity fraud.
Karima Manji, who is not Indigenous, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000, after her twin daughters used fake Inuit status to receive benefits from two organizations.
The judge went beyond the Crown’s recommendation for two years jail.
The judge says Manji defrauded the territory’s Inuit by stealing their identity and victimizing the family of an elderly Inuk woman, who has since died.
The judge says Manji’s actions are an egregious example of the exploitation of Indigenous Peoples and the punishment must fit the crime.
Charges against Manji’s daughters were dropped after the mother pleaded guilty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2024.
More to come.
