HUNTER: My mother pleaded guilty to a fraudulent Inuit scholarship scheme

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“Whether you earn or cheat, the money is the same.” — Bobby “The Brain” Heenan

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And Canadians love scams.

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Sometimes even with the tacit approval of the government that controls our dough. Every day someone tries to beat the system in the most extreme way possible.

And why not? Rewards are high, fines are low.

Meet Karima Manji, a convicted fraudster from Mississauga. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in Iqaluit on Friday, APTN reported.

Even in the land of con men, Manji's fraud was quite appalling.

In 2016, the 59-year-old fraudster, a businessman, filled out forms for his two daughters to register with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. Membership makes her twins beneficiaries of the Nunavut land claim agreement.

And lots of scholarship money.

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Here is the scam.

“On the registration forms, Karima Manji included information that Nadia and Amira were Inuit children, that their birth mother was an Iqaluit woman named Kitty Noa, and that Karima Manji was the children's adoptive mother,” APTN reported, citing court records.

The sisters were approved and given NTI cards. Manji, of course, misrepresented the birth and validity of the twins. Apparently, the sisters were in the dark about Mom's cheating.

Then the money started flowing. Between September 2020 and March 2023, the Gill sisters were paid $158,254.05. Another $65,000 was pending for Amira but was never paid.

Karima Manji then went to Hail Mary for herself as the beneficiary. He said he was adopted by Inuit parents (HAR! HAR!). This time the gambit failed.

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But there was a problem with this amazing caper: In March 2023, Karima Manji's adoptive mother, Kitty Noah, cried in frustration and filed a complaint about the twins, and they were removed from the list.

Fraud charges totaling more than $5,000 were dropped Friday against Amira and Nadia Gill, who allegedly earned boffo dollars from several scholarships. The brothers appeared on podcasts and expressed their desire to give back to the community through their company.

This isn't Karima Manji's first rodeo on the wrong side of the law. He was sentenced in 2017 to two years of probation, reduced by two years a day, after being convicted of fraud over $5,000.

In this accounting adventure, he was convicted of defrauding the not-for-profit Housing Corporation of Canada (MOD) of nearly $800,000. A shameless con artist concocted an Inuit scheme while awaiting trial.

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Go big or go home, would be Karima's motto.

A friend of mine who was deputy superintendent of the James Bay Reserve a lifetime ago pointed out how much of the government money earmarked for things like clean water and livable homes ended up in the pockets of consultants.

And who were they? Mostly ex-bureaucrats of local and northern affairs, they didn't solve anything when they were in government and didn't want to do it. Too much dough at stake.

As distasteful and despicable as Karima Manji's scam is, it pales in comparison to the small army of consultants who call Ottawa home. He will be sentenced in June.

[email protected]

@HunterTOSun

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