VANCOUVER — A British Columbia woman is suing the Canadian government, Canada Border Services Agency and several government employees alleging she was labelled a terrorist and lost her multimillion-dollar business over the accusation.
Perienne de Jaray filed the suit in Western Washington District Court, seeking at least $21 million in damages for what she claims was "extreme and outrageous conduct" by the Canadian government.
Court documents allege de Jaray and her father were targeted in 2009 by Canadian officials who hoped to prove Canada was tough on terrorism by upholding United States legislation restricting arms trade to certain countries.
The documents say a shipment to China from her father's B.C.-based company was wrongly declared to contain weapons-grade electronics and the Canadian government shared the allegation with the FBI, who began investigating her own company based in Washington state.
More than two years later, the Canadian government dropped criminal charges against de Jaray's father and paid him a reportedly very large settlement, but de Jaray claims the FBI probe against her did not end for another two years.
Her lawsuit says Canada has never apologized for actions that destroyed her $30 million a year business and caused irreparable harm and de Jaray is asking a U.S. jury to award a significant settlement.
