A Canadian court has sentenced Ivon Beatrice Okafor, an Igbo woman, to six years in federal prison for defrauding four licensed daycare centres of approximately $755,000. Okafor, who worked as a bookkeeper in the Greater Toronto Area, diverted government childcare subsidies and parents’ payments into her personal bank account over three years while concealing the scheme with falsified records.
The fraud was uncovered when a daycare owner noticed discrepancies, leading to an investigation by the Toronto Police and the RCMP. Okafor fled to Lagos before charges were filed but was later arrested and extradited following an Interpol Red Notice. She was sentenced to six years and ordered to make full restitution.
This is yet another case of an Igbo individual making headlines abroad for the wrong reasons.
