A West Vancouver woman who was acquitted of human slavery has settled with the RCMP.
In 2015, Mumtaz Ladha launched a suit claiming the RCMP had destroyed her life by conducting a negligent investigation which led to the criminal charges.
The province’s Director of Civil Forfeiture was also named in the suit for attempts to seize her house.
“I just want to leave behind everything and think of it as a nightmare and just resume my normal life,” Ladha said on Friday.
Ladha was acquitted in 2013. The case centered on allegations Ladha had brought a young Tanzanian woman to B.C. in 2008 with the promise of a job in a salon, then forced her to work as an unpaid maid at her West Vancouver mansion and confiscated her passport.
Those allegations led to charges under the Immigration Act of human trafficking, employing a foreign national without authorization, misrepresenting facts to the High Commission of Canada, and misrepresenting facts to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
She was found not guilty on all counts, with the judge finding the alleged victim’s testimony not credible and ruling the woman had actually taken advantage of Ladha’s generosity.
Ladha said she’s now received an apology from the RCMP as part of the settlement, and is relieved at the opportunity to restore her reputation.
“They apologized for statements they had made that were not correct and that they were sorry for putting me through whatever I went through.”
In a statement, the RCMP says its apology letter reflects its position and that it has no further comment.
–With files from Amy Judd and the Canadian Press
Comments