Toronto woman charged for allegedly defrauding March of Dimes of $800,000

TORONTO — A longtime employee for a Toronto charity faces fraud charges after allegedly bilking March of Dimes Canada of approximately $800,000.

It is alleged the accused was a property manager at the non-profit housing corporation and used various means to defraud the organization.

“Unfortunately this happens more often than we’d like to see,” said Toronto police Det. Valerie Dahan.

“It was $800,000 in an eight-year time span by fraudulent means.”

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The woman has been identified as 50-year-old Karima Manji and she faces charges of fraud over $5,000, uttering forged documents, theft over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

She is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 22.

“Controls were deficient at the time, we didn’t have enough resources for the segregation of financial duties,” said President of March of Dimes Canada Andria Spindel.

“As a result of the audit, we’ve tightened controls … we contracted out property management to a private company,” she said, adding that donors had been inquiring about the fraud allegations.

“It sounds like a lot of money and it is over a very extended period … we’re answering calls … I don’t think there will be long-term damage.”

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Mark Blumberg, a lawyer who focuses on the charitable and philanthropic sector, said he doesn’t think the public shouldn’t blame the organization unless they’ve been “willfully negligent.”

“Over two million people work for charities so the likelihood is there will always be people doing something they shouldn’t be doing — just like you see in business or government,” he said.

“The Canada Revenue Agency only audits about one per cent of charities … charities have to make sure themselves there isn’t a problem.”

Police believe there may be other victims and are urging anyone with information to come forward.