An Ontario mother and her 25-year-old adopted twin daughters have been accused of fraudulently pretending to be Indigenous to gain access to certain benefits, such as scholarships reserved for people of First Nations.
“The women used this Inuit beneficiary status to defraud the Kakivak Association and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association of funds that are only accessible to Inuit beneficiaries by obtaining grants and scholarships,” the Royal Mounted Police said last week. of Canada (RCMP) through a press release.
Karima Manji, 59, and her twin daughters Amira and Nadya Gill are charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000, for applying for and obtaining Inuit beneficiary status between October 2016 and September 2022, according to the press release.
So the three allegedly pretended that the twins were adopted from an Inuit mother in order to receive certain benefits, including grants and scholarships reserved for members of the first nations.
One of them, Amira Gill, allegedly fraudulently got her hands on a $4,000 scholarship from an Ontario public utility company, as well as a prize for indigenous students from one of Canada’s largest banks after year, according to “New York”. Post” reported.
“You want to take our language. You want to take our culture. Now you try to claim our identity? It’s just weird,” the president of the Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporation (NTI), Aluki Kotierk, reportedly lamented to the CBC, according to American media.
The NTI president hopes, at the very least, that the women will have to pay back the money they allegedly stole from First Nations over the years.
The three women will face their charges in Iqaluit court on October 30, according to the RCMP.
