About the only thing the Canadian government seems sure of in this story is that the man in question is not who he claims to be, a French citizen named Herman Emmanuel Frankem. It all began on Oct. 28, 2012, when the unidentified man arrived in Montreal on a flight from Cuba. At customs he handed over a French passport, indicating it wasn’t his first visit. He had originally gone to Canada 6 months earlier and had left just a week before. He said he was returning because his friend’s sister had died, and he came for the funeral. He had a reservation at a Days Inn in Montreal, $3,000 in a bank account, and a return airline ticket. He was given a 10-day visitor’s visa and welcomed back. He didn’t, however, leave in 10 days. Nearly 6 months later, he was arrested by Toronto police for a real estate scam. Criminal charges were stayed at the request of prosecutors, who wanted to facilitate his quick deportation from Canada. If the man thought he was free, he was mistaken. He was sent to prison to await deportation. In a remarkable display of defiance, over 4½ years, he refused to attend 51 detention review hearings, with each hearing ordering his continued detention. Despite insisting he needed to speak to French diplomats, he twice refused to be taken to meet with them. By 2014, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) was told by the French that the ID was fake. They believe the man is from Cameroon, but he doesn’t have a criminal record in France under the name Herman Emmanuel Frankem. Then, in June 2018, something unexpected happened. At another in-absentia hearing, the man was ordered released. Judge B. Richard Bell, however, ruled that the release was unreasonable, and the man was kept in prison. Another detention hearing is scheduled, but it’s unknown whether the unidentified man will make an appearance.
