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Toronto woman defrauded March of Dimes of $800,000, police say

It’s alleged she used “various means” to funnel money from the charity, and that included forging invoices and expense claims, and depositing the money into a bogus March of Dimes bank account, The Toronto Star reports.

Manji was arrested Wednesday, and is now charged with one count each of fraud over $5,000, uttering a forged document, theft over $5,000, and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, CBC News Toronto reports.

“Unfortunately this happens more often than we’d like to see, ” Toronto police Det. Valerie Dahan told Global News.“It was $800,000 in an eight-year time span by fraudulent means.”

Andria Spindel, president of March of Dimes Canada, said the organization didn’t have enough resources to segregate financial duties.

Now the company has tightened controls and a private company is taking care of property management.

Spindel noted that donors have been asking about the fraud allegations.

She says this may sound like a lot of money over a long period, but she says she doesn’t think there will be any long-term damage.

Lawyer Mark Blumberg specializes in working with charitable and philanthropic organizations, and he says he believes the public shouldn’t blame the organization unless it’s been “willfully negligent.”

With more than two million people working for charities, there’s always the likelihood that people will sometimes do things they shouldn’t — “just like you see in business or government,” he said.

The Canada Revenue Agency, which deals with these issues, only audits around one percent of charities, which means it’s up to the charities to be certain there isn’t a problem, he added.

Police have released Manji’s photo because they believe there may be other victims, The National Post reports. She is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 22.

Toronto police are urging anyone with information to call 416-808-7300.

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