SEATTLE (CN) — The Canadian government destroyed a young executive's life by falsely accusing her of being a terrorist and selling illegal military technology to China, she claims in a $21 million federal complaint.
Perienne de Jaray managed U.S. operations for her father's company, Apex Canada, when Canadian Customs seized circuit board assemblies it was shipping to Hong Kong in 2008.
In 2010, Canada charged de Jaray and her father, Steve de Jaray, with two counts of exporting controlled goods based on falsified information, according to the complaint.
Canada filed the charges after the United States threatened to withhold trade concessions unless Canada stepped up prosecution of allegedly illegal military exports, de Jaray says in the lawsuit.
All criminal charges were dismissed in 2011 after an independent expert consulting firm reported the seized goods were legal for export.
De Jaray sued the Canadian government on April 19, seeking more than $21 million for false arrest, negligence and violation of the Alien Tort Statute.
De Jaray, a Canadian citizen, was 26 and living in Bellingham, Wash., when the investigation began.
"Ms. de Jaray, a bright, intelligent executive living in Bellingham, Washington, was pregnant and soon to be married when the Government of Canada and the Canadian individual defendants destroyed her life by labeling her as a terrorist on the basis of falsified evidence and a negligent or reckless investigation," the complaint states.
De Jaray says she was "collateral damage" in Canada's attempt to curry favor with the United States.
"In 2009, the Government of Canada began targeting its own citizens in order to create the perception that Canada was 'tough on crime' and, in particular, terrorism, to win favor with the United States and secure contracts for military goods and services," the complaint states.
Canadian Customs confiscated the shipment of electronics, saying the items were "dual-use" and on the export control list.
Dual-use goods have a civilian use as well as a particular military use.
De Jaray says defendant Patrick Liska, working for the defendant Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, falsely reported the electronics were restricted.
"(T)he Government of Canada and the Canadian individual defendants also transmitted the falsified First Liska Report to the United States Government, including the FBI, in order to induce the FBI to investigate Ms. de Jaray," the complaint states. "The FBI opened an investigation based on misrepresentations from the Government of Canada and the Canadian individual defendants."
After Canadian Customs inspector Kevin Varga used Liska's report to justify a search warrant for Steve de Jaray's home and Apex Canada's premises, Customs manager George Webb told the U.S. and Canadian governments ,"This company has to be shut down," according to the complaint.
Both Varga and Webb are named as defendants.