Canada's Unidentified Prisoner

In April of 2013, a man using the name Herman Emmanuel Fankem was arrested in Canada after conning a Toronto man out of $450,000 dollars using a so-called “black money” scam.

Six months earlier, the man had entered Canada from Cuba using a French passport, and overstayed his 10 day visitor’s visa.

Once in immigration custody, it became clear that the man was not Herman Emmanuel Fankem and his actual identity and country of origin could not be determined, leading the man to be indefinitely confined in a state of deportation limbo and sending law enforcement on an investigation that would span at least 11 countries and 3 continents and would lead to more questions than answers.

Who is Canada’s unidentified prisoner, and why has he kept his true identity secret in favor of indefinite imprisonment in a maximum security Canadian detention center?

A Small Foreign Fact Check is hosted by Jill Goguen. Follow the show on Twitter and Instagram at SmallForeignFC. The show can be reached at [e-mail].

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