A non-profit organization — once in charge of millions of dollars in federal funds — is suing a former employee, alleging she misappropriated more than $6 million to pay for vacations and divert to a Jamaican dance hall singer.
Melanie Desjarlais, a Winnipeg resident and the First Nations National Guardians Network’s former financial director, is accused in court documents of misusing funds that were provided to the network by the federal government and earmarked for Indigenous ecological programs. The non-profit is based in Akwesasne, a Mohawk community that straddles Ontario, Quebec and New York.
The allegations have led the feds, who put the network in charge of its Indigenous Guardians fund in 2024, to move all future distribution of funds internally, within the government.
The lawsuit filed against Desjarlais in Manitoba’s Court of King’s bench in Winnipeg on March 20 seeks $10 million in damages and restitution “for deceit, conversion, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.”
None of the allegations have been tested in court, and a statement of defence has not been filed. Through her lawyer, Desjarlais declined to comment.
The National Guardians Network, a First Nations-led non-profit, was started in 2022.
In 2024, the federal government announced the network would independently manage the funding for the Indigenous Guardians program. During that period, the government committed $27.6 million to support 80 First Nations guardians initiatives.
The Indigenous Guardians program trains and employs people to carry out conservation and research work in their traditional lands.
CBC reviewed hundreds of pages of court documents that have been filed since March 20, including several affidavits, motion briefs and a forensic investigation by accounting firm KPMG.
The lawsuit said the network’s executive director went on medical leave in August 2025, making Desjarlais the sole staff member with day-to-day control over its finances.
Desjarlais used two of the network’s corporate credit cards to make $6.3 million in charges from that August until March 2026, the lawsuit alleges, with almost $5 million paid to TikTok alone.
PayPal transaction records revealed more than $750,000 US was sent directly to Jamaican musician Conrad Williams, the court documents state. The documents say Desjarlais and Williams may have had a romantic relationship.
A further $2.78 million US was used to buy TikTok coins, the documents say.
The coins allow users to purchase virtual currency to send gifts to creators during livestreams, court records state. When a gift is given to a user during a livestream, it converts to diamonds on the platform.
These diamonds can be cashed out by the user and “used as a vehicle for money laundering,” court documents state.
Williams, the dance hall artist, had a TikTok account with the username Short Ghad, the lawsuit noted.
“The evidence suggests that the payments to TikTok were made for the purpose of laundering funds and diverting them to [the musician],” a motion brief dated March 30 stated.
The Guardians Network funds were also used to support Desjarlais’ “expensive lifestyle which included extensive travel, attendance at hockey games, and other luxuries,” the lawsuit alleges.
The PayPal transfers to the Jamaican musician included messages such as “Happy early birthday!” and a $5,000 payment with the message, “This is the last payment the other one was an error. Love you and I’m sorry for everything.”
Credit card records contained in the court file show Desjarlais travelled to Jamaica twice, in October 2025 and January 2026, and used the network’s funds for the trip.
During this period, the Bank of Montreal sent multiple automated security alerts to Desjarlais’ work email regarding suspicious use of her card, court documents state.
From August onward, Desjarlais began to miss regularly scheduled staff meetings, saying she was sick or had to care for her son, according to the lawsuit.
By late November 2025, under the direction of Desjarlais, regular payments to guardian programs stopped due to insufficient funds, court documents state.
Desjarlais did not provide financial statements to the network’s board despite repeated requests, the lawsuit states.
“Throughout January and February 2026, Desjarlais repeatedly promised but failed to deliver the required financial information, citing illness, her son’s medical issues, further family emergencies and technical difficulties,” according to the lawsuit.
Forged bank documents were provided to the board, and the board contacted the police on March 4 to report the potential fraud, the court documents state.
Desjarlais was then removed from their bank accounts, the accounts were frozen, and she was suspended, the documents say.
“Her behaviour has not merely harmed her employer NGN, but First Nations across the country,” the lawsuit alleges.
Police did not return a request for comment by CBC News.
Documents show when Desjarlais began at the network in February 2024, the bank accounts held just over $570,000. That amount grew to more than $10 million after a transfer from the federal government, and court documents show the balance had fallen to $70,000 by February 2026.
The chair of the guardians network’s board estimates that, as of February 2026, 50 to 60 programs were awaiting funding from the network, the KPMG document filed in court states.
In early April, an email was sent by the network to administrators of guardian programs notifying them they had “uncovered evidence of a sustained pattern of unauthorized financial transactions.”
“The fraudulent actions are a profound betrayal of the trust placed in our organization by you and by your Nation,” the email, sent April 2 by the organization’s council, states.
The council acknowledged these organizations “made investments with the understanding that funds outlined in your contribution agreement would soon arrive.” The email said it would work with guardian programs to “reduce uncertainty and minimize interruptions.”
A spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada did not respond to questions regarding the programs waiting for funding or owed money and whether they had been paid.
They wrote in an emailed statement they were informed by the organization of the allegations concerning “unauthorized financial transactions.”
The spokesperson said the government is going to expand its own routine audit of the National Guardians Network and take over funding distributions for the guardians program.
On March 31, the federal government announced its $3.8-billion new nature strategy, earmarking $230 million for its Indigenous Guardians program. The news release did not mention the National Guardians Network.
The guardian network’s lawyer said it is “actively and aggressively pursuing recovery of the funds” and looking into the potential involvement of third parties.
Matthew Sammon, a partner with Toronto law practice Lenczner Slaght LLP, said Friday in an emailed statement that the financial misconduct “stems from the actions of a single individual and does not reflect the values or mission of the (National Guardians Network).”
Sammon said the network will continue to work with Environment and Climate Change Canada to ensure guardian programs continue without interruption.
An injunction freezing Desjarlais’s worldwide assets was approved by a judge last month and extended by the court on April 2.
One of the projects funded through the federal government’s Indigenous Guardians program was the Land-Water-Nature Indigenous Guardianship Stewardship Initiative in Manitoba’s Swan Lake First Nation.
Indigenous Elder and spiritual leader David Scott trained the next generation of young guardians as part of the two-year, $349,000 initiative.
“I’m not going to be here all the time. I have to teach the next generation — that’s my job,” he said.
Scott says part of the project was about “catching up” to the environmental damage that has been done in their community.
He says they began with soil and water testing because of concerns about chemicals getting into the water system.
“We were seeing fish species that are dying, invasive plants that are coming in, chemicals that are getting into our food sources.”
Using traditional Indigenous knowledge, Scott says his primary role has been to train young guardians to record and monitor observations in an environment he says they “no longer fully understand.”
“We are so far behind in addressing the concerns that we have around food insecurity, water insecurity — those things are crucial to our survival here,” he said.
“That’s why this funding has been so important.”
